Food insecurity is a solvable problem. While the bulk of the Foodbank’s work is distributing nourishing food every day, the team is also working at addressing hunger by advocating for policies that can ultimately end hunger. Together with partners, community members, and donors like you, this small but steady effort is making our collective future more food secure.
For a household, hunger is an emergency. Ready access to food is critical for families and individuals experiencing hunger.
For a state and nation, addressing hunger is a policy issue. The root causes of food insecurity include social, economic, and structural factors—that can be changed.
Thanks to your support, Vermont Foodbank has a staff member who focuses on policy and public funding. Advocacy supports immediate food assistance for households facing hunger, as well as state- and national-level solutions that could help end hunger for good.
That staff member, Carrie, collaborates with organizations addressing hunger and poverty to put forward policy solutions. She works with the Foodbank’s network of food shelves, meal sites, schools, and hospitals to bring their expertise forward.
Carrie also facilitates trainings and logistics so constituents with lived experience of food insecurity can share their perspectives directly with their elected officials. “The State House belongs to all of us,” Carrie said at the start of a recent tour. “It might seem like an intimidating place, but today we’ll get familiar with the building and the legislative process.”
Denise has shared her personal experience with hunger and as a food shelf volunteer with Vermont legislators this year, and offered this reflection:
“Everything was well organized, executed, I was made to feel welcome, comfortable and supported by the Vermont Foodbank team and MANY other organizations…Knowledge is power and I learned A LOT today. I am proud to be an ADVOCATE for food security in the STATE of VERMONT.”
Denise, Carrie, and other community members are ensuring that when policy decisions about food security are on the table, lawmakers understand what they’re deciding on and who will be impacted.
In addition to speaking up for 3SquaresVT—and other effective anti-poverty programs—the Foodbank is seeking state funding to purchase from local farms, build capacity for disaster response, and bolster network partners’ efforts to feed neighbors statewide.
Together with donors like you, we’re making sure neighbors have enough nourishing food today, while working toward a food-secure Vermont. Thank you for helping grow a stronger community and a state where everyone has what they need to thrive.
It seems spring has finally arrived, and our spring edition of Kernels is here with it. Spring in Vermont is a time of renewal. New life begins under the melting snow, and paths of green appear on south-facing hills. Gentler days are ahead.
3SquaresVT (SNAP) provides help with groceries to about 61,000 people in Vermont. An estimated 60% of people who are eligible are not enrolled. Could you be one of them?
Summer in Vermont brings a bounty of local food. Here are five ways to stretch your food budget and eat local—get seeds and seedlings for your garden, get discounts at your local co-op, find free coupons at farmers markets, find free coupons at farm stands, and get a discount on your CSA farm share.
