Advocate & Fight Hunger

Photo of the Vermont State House and a Vermont Foodbank tent in the foreground.

The Vermont Foodbank believes that hunger and food insecurity are challenges that can be solved! While we work each day to provide nourishing food to people across Vermont, we are also working to change systems and policies that have allowed hunger and food insecurity to persist. To do this, we engage neighbors with lived expertise as well as partners, donors, and supporters interested in advocating for change to join this important work.

The Vermont Foodbank engages in advocacy both here in Vermont and with the Federal government. Our advocacy work is fast-moving, please consider sharing your voice, or, sign up for our Advocacy Alerts  to stay updated about the latest ways to take action alongside us.

Food insecurity for any family in Vermont is not ok. We have an urgent and important need right now and we look to our state leaders to fund solutions to addressing hunger today,

Sign Up For Advocacy Alerts

Vermont Foodbank Advocacy Alerts are the best way to stay up-to-date on our advocacy efforts and to be alerted to ways you can help us in this work. We won’t bombard your inbox, and we won’t share your email.

Advocacy Efforts in Vermont

The COVID-19 pandemic provided many opportunities to advocate for changes to address the higher rate of food insecurity we have seen across the state. Advocacy has supported increased food purchases, including our Vermonters Feeding Vermonters program purchasing food from Vermont farms, as well as delivery and distribution of food to all 14 counties. As Vermont moves through and beyond this crisis, we need the continued support of the State of Vermont to address the higher rate of food insecurity across Vermont to ensure that all people in Vermont have access to nourishing food and so we can ensure that we are ready for the next crisis that Vermont may face.

This year, we have a unique opportunity to engage candidates as they campaign across the state prior to November’s general election. 2022 has seen a wave of retirements by sitting legislators – we now have the opportunity to help candidates understand that food insecurity is a priority for Vermont communities – find local and statewide candidate’s contact information here.

Here are a few questions you might ask candidates to understand their stance on food insecurity:

  • How will you work to support better access to nutritious food for all our neighbors, including those with low or fixed incomes?
  • How will you prioritize poverty reduction or system changes that address the root causes of food insecurity including deep-rooted issues like housing insecurity, financial insecurity, and systematic racism?
  • How do you see your work in the legislature supporting access to affordable, culturally relevant, nutritious food for everyone in your district and in Vermont?

Federal Advocacy Efforts

We partner with Feeding America and our partner food banks across the nation to advocate for federal support for programs that serve to end hunger.

In 2022 and 2023, we will be engaged with coalition partners to gather input in to the 2023 Farm Bill – this legislative process only happens every five years. This is a key opportunity to influence how important federal programs like SNAP (called 3SquaresVt here in Vermont), The Emergency Food Access Program (TEFAP), and Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) are structured, funded, and implemented across the country.

Sign up for our Advocacy Alerts  and we will share more opportunities to be involved in this process throughout the coming year.