FoodBridge, LLC’s Post

Your neighbor is hungry. Help us ensure our lawmakers prioritize food security for every Kentuckian. Your advocacy can make a difference in ensuring fresh, wholesome food reaches our neighbors facing food insecurity. How you can help: Urge Congress to Pass a Strong Farm Bill (https://lnkd.in/ej6e64pH). Help combat hunger by advocating for a robust farm bill! A strong farm bill would include vital provisions such as increased nutrition and agriculture funding, maintaining USDA's authority to support U.S.-grown food during market disruptions, and strengthening programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to meet rising food needs. Maintain SNAP Benefits for All The Kentucky House has passed HB367 (bit.ly/housebill367ky). This bill would jeopardize SNAP benefits for 24,500 households, cost Kentucky taxpayers $2.3 million in unnecessary annual administrative costs, and remove $110.4 million in consumer spending from the Kentucky economy. Reach out to your state senator (https://lnkd.in/efM4mnHv) and members (bit.ly/legislaturekygov) of the Senate Committee for Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor. Tell them that HB367 is a bad bill that is harmful to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Support Farms to Food Banks Help provide nutritious, locally grown produce to those in need by urging the Kentucky General Assembly to fund Farms to Food Banks (https://lnkd.in/eNDRUnD5). This initiative not only fights hunger but also promotes healthier eating habits, addressing chronic health issues prevalent among food-insecure households. Tell your state legislator (https://lnkd.in/efM4mnHv) to support Farms to Food Banks. Join Hunger Free Kentucky Day Make your voice heard at Hunger Free Kentucky Day on March 13, 2024! Join Feeding Kentucky and fellow advocates at the State Capitol in Frankfort for a day dedicated to addressing hunger issues. Register now (bit.ly/HungerFreeKYDay) to be a part of this impactful event!

Local & Regional News Food desert elimination grant combats food insecurity in Arkansas KUAR | By Sophia Nourani / KUAF Published September 17, 2024 at 3:55 PM CDT A new study conducted by the federal department of agriculture, or the USDA, has identified Arkansas as the most food insecure state in the country. With almost 20% of the state lacking resources to feed their household, Arkansas has a significantly higher rate of hunger than the national average of 12%. There is a food desert in every county in Arkansas. What’s a food desert? According to the USDA, it’s a term used to describe a region with a large number of households facing low incomes, inadequate access to transportation and a limited number of food retailers providing fresh, affordable produce. In a rural state like Arkansas, these types of areas are common to find. And while residents may be growing food in these farming-driven communities, CEO of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance’s Sylvia Blain said the food isn’t for the farmers. https://lnkd.in/gMNqVd8q

🌟 FANTASTIC News for Food Banks and Local Food Organizations! 🌟 The USDA is investing $1.13 billion to strengthen local food systems, connecting farmers with food banks, schools, and—now for the first time—child care facilities. This funding includes $471.5 million for school meal programs, $188.6 million for child care, and $100 million for Tribal governments, ensuring access to nutritious, locally produced food. Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt and Deputy Under Secretary Cindy Long are leading this transformative effort, supporting local economies, underserved communities, and a resilient agricultural future. This is a game-changer for farmers, families, and communities nationwide! 🌱💪 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eMjyJHVc Hear more from the USDA at Food as Medicine Network #Live2025. Sheila Fleischhacker Caree Cotwright Deirdra Chester, PhD, RDN #USDA #FoodSecurity #Funding

Here at Collective Food Works one of our biggest goals is to reduce the amount of people suffering from food insecurity via educational posts and programs. While the amount of people suffering from food insecurity and poverty has stabilized since the end of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, "an estimated 1.2 million (14.6%) New York City residents were food insecure" according to the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy annual 2022 Food Metrics Annual Report. Not shockingly, "New York City’s residents make up 50% of all food insecure people living in New York State". The city has been working to help battle food insecurity with a variety of programs such as SNAP, but it has done little to help New Yorkers who are struggling to feed themselves due to rising costs of living. So, what is the solution? Well, outside of inflation, part of the rising cost of food in the city comes from the fact that much of our food comes from great distances. We touched on this in our last post where we shed light on America's growing dependence on imported food. While the concrete scenery of New York City does not make it easy for it's population to produce their own food, GrowNYC is an organization focused on increasing the amount of farmers in the area. If you are interested in joining their Farmer Assistance's Beginning Farmer Program or supporting their cause, be sure to check them out.

Last week, the USDA released its annual report on Household Food Security in the United States. The report, which shows data from 2023, indicates that 13.5% of US households are food insecure, an increase from 2022. Additionally, 1 in 5 children in the US live in food-insecure households. Although programs like SNAP and WIC are in place, food insecurity is rising.  These programs can only be effective if those who qualify are enrolled - this is where Advocatia can help.  We identify and enroll individuals in safety net programs that can help stop this growing trend of hunger in our communities.  SNAP & WIC are just 2 of the over 1,000 programs that our platform can screen for.  #SNAP #WIC #publicbenefits #publicbenefitsmatter #combathunger #foodinsecurity https://lnkd.in/gcb2sfyh

So many things to post about today! Check out this story. Everyday, I'm working to elevate the voices of our communities. Food cost is too high. More and more people, many of which are children, are being priced out of healthy meals. Food banks have less resources yet are expected to feed more people. You can help by sharing this post! Our #PAsenate and #PAhouse can help by strengthening #SFPP and #PASS in the #PAbudget. Our #USCongress can help by strengthening #TEFAP and #SNAP in the #FarmBill. #NWPAfoodbank ***The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Second Harvest Food Bank.

I have several reactions to the recent (and very important) Oregon State Policy Analysis Lab report that shows a 9.2% increase in food insecurity in Oregon over a period ending in 2023. 1. It underscores the 28% increase in meals served at Blanchet House & Farm in 2023 compared to 2022. 2. It underscores the record number of meals served at Blanchet House so far in 2024, up as much as 30% in some months compared to 2023. 3. The extraordinary increase of food insecurity in rural Oregon is important because as resource scarcity in those communities increases, people will seek resources in urban centers, which suggests greater numbers of people needing Blanchet House's services in 2025. We'll be ready! 4. Predicted cuts to SNAP benefits in the Farm Bill that will be passed by the new Congress will exacerbate the benefits cliff already affecting thousands of Oregonians, which will then further increase the need for Blanchet House's services in 2025. We'll be ready! 5. The projected increased need for food coupled with disruptions to the food chain that could result from labor impacts in agricultural and related sectors will require enhanced gleaning and food rescue efforts -- something Blanchet House is poised to do in support of our colleague food pantries and meal service organizations. We are ready to lead in 2025 to help meet the need for food in our community!

Thanks to Susan Lightfoot Schempf and team for this great work! ... "Wallace Center has been working to better understand and support the people and organizations implementing #values-based, equity-centered Farm to Food Assistance (F2FA) programs since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this first of its kind comprehensive report on the emerging field of F2FA, the Wallace Center and our research partners Rachel Dannefer and Alison Cohen share the findings and insights from four years of research, peer learning, and field building. “'Farm to Food Assistance: A Model for Values-Based, Equity Centered Approaches to Transforming the Food System' makes the case for how Farm to Food Assistance can contribute to the transformation of a food system from one that produces commodities and derives wealth for a few to one that produces food, health, and #wellbeing for all. We explore how values-based, equity-centered Farm to Food Assistance reveals and works to overcome the contradictions inherent in the food banking economy, and delineate the core values and strategies that move the food assistance system from charity to justice. We also enumerate the most pressing challenges and offer recommendations for practitioners and supporters to advance the goals and outcomes of Farm to Food Assistance efforts across the county." https://lnkd.in/e6BbMkHc

To address #FoodInsecurity, you need to focus on where it exists. From Arkansas to New York, there are millions of Americans struggling to secure food for their households. Addressing food insecurity takes centering the communities affected. When this is done, real change can happen. #FoodDeserts #FoodEquity

Feeding the Other: Whiteness, Privilege, and Neoliberal Stigma in Food Pantries - PDF: https://lnkd.in/g_Q8iBWD How food pantries stigmatize their clients through a discourse that emphasizes hard work, self help, and economic productivity rather than food justice and equity. The United States has one of the highest rates of hunger and food insecurity in the industrialized world, with poor households, single parents, and communities of color disproportionately affected. Food pantries--run by charitable and faith-based organizations--rather than legal entitlements have become a cornerstone of the government's efforts to end hunger. In Feeding the Other, Rebecca de Souza argues that food pantries stigmatize their clients through a discourse that emphasizes hard work, self help, and economic productivity rather than food justice and equity. De Souza describes this "framing, blaming, and shaming" as "neoliberal stigma" that recasts the structural issue of hunger as a problem for the individual hungry person. De Souza shows how neoliberal stigma plays out in practice through a comparative case analysis of two food pantries in Duluth, Minnesota. Doing so, she documents the seldom-acknowledged voices, experiences, and realities of people living with hunger. She describes the failure of public institutions to protect citizens from poverty and hunger; the white privilege of pantry volunteers caught between neoliberal narratives and social justice concerns; the evangelical conviction that food assistance should be "a hand up, not a handout"; the culture of suspicion in food pantry spaces; and the constraints on food choice. It is only by rejecting the neoliberal narrative and giving voice to the hungry rather than the privileged, de Souza argues, that food pantries can become agents of food justice.