Dan Barlow, Executive Director of People’s Health and Wellness in Barre speaks as part of the plenary panel at the Hunger Action Conference hosted by Vermont Foodbank at Killington Grand Hotel in Killington, Vermont on May 3. Photos courtesy Vermont Foodbank
Vermont Business Magazine Food security advocates, service providers, and administrators from around the state attended Vermont Foodbank's annual Hunger Action Conference at the Killington Grand Hotel Resort in Killington, Vermont on Friday. The theme of the conference, “Getting to the Root of Hunger, Together,” presented attendees with the opportunity to consider the many systems and policies that perpetuate poverty and hunger in Vermont and look to the ways that food security in Vermont is possible and how together, we can all build a shared vision, understanding, and act together to end hunger for good.
The day kicked off with a welcome and opening remarks from John Sayles, CEO of Vermont Foodbank and an opening panel featuring community leaders with the theme of Addressing Hunger at the Root. John closed his remarks with a reminder to that, “no one strategy is going to achieve food security, it takes all of us and our collective work - we are all in this together.”
The panel was emceed by Mikaela LeFrak, host and senior producer of Vermont Edition at Vermont Public. Panelists included Daniel Barlow, Executive Director at People’s Health & Wellness Clinic in Barre, Samatha Langevin, Network Manager at The Vermont Releaf Collective, Becca Lewis, Director of Outreach at Northeast Kingdom Community Action, and Rob Meehan, Director of Feeding Chittenden CVOEO in Burlington.
In response to a question about ‘what hunger looks like in Vermont,’ Samantha Langevin offered, “Hunger looks like everyone or anyone in this room. It is not something that is visible, that you can see from looking at someone. A UVM study in 2020 showed that almost 50% of the BIPOC community in Vermont experiences hunger and food insecurity. Think about every person of color you know, and then imagine that half of them struggle with access to food. Releaf doesn’t focus on the symptoms of hunger, instead we think about how the root causes of hunger impact our communities and the solutions to building and supporting that community.”
Later in the panel, Dan Barlow offered, “One of the root causes that we are not talking about is capitalism. We live in a society that makes money off of people’s basic needs. We need to move away from a system that monetizes human suffering [to address hunger].”
While, Mikaela Lefrak, asked panelists to offer some inspiration by sharing what partnerships have been most impactful and exciting, Rob Meehan offered, “We have a partnership with ACORN that includes helping to deliver food to migrant farm workers, a partnership in Franklin County with Healthy Roots Collaborative, we’ve helped build food hubs in Middlebury, Colchester and Sheldon.
"We also partner with the Vermont Foodbank with their culinary job program, Community Kitchen Academy which helps us engage with people where we make food together for our communities, and we are about to launch a partnership to put automated food lockers at Mountain Community Health so people can access food when they need it. You can see the breadth, from brick and mortar to programs, we are thinking about different ways to work together.”
Samantha Langevin, Network Manager at The Vermont Releaf Collective offers her perspective as a speaker on the plenary panel.
The day featured a wide variety of sessions from a broad spectrum of topics including:
- Vermont Food Security: Roadmap to 2035
- Community partners sharing their best practices for inventory management and food procurement, and adaptation to meet the current level of need
- Sessions exploring intersections with transportation and other root causes
- Sessions on the Right to Food and Food as Medicine movements
- Sessions exploring how to leverage 3SquaresVT and ways to use 3SVT for local food access
The luncheon featured a Networking Marketplace where attendees could connect and learn about a range of resources and services offered by a wide variety of exhibitors.
Among the more than 200 attendees were Vermont Foodbank network partners, non-profit organizations, government officials, elected and community leaders, advocates, volunteers, and concerned citizens who had the opportunity to network, share their knowledge and experience, and creatively address the issue of hunger in Vermont.
Additional information and a full conference agenda can be found here: https://www.vtfoodbank.org/event/2024-hunger-action-conference
Plenary panelists (from left to right) Mikaela Lefrak, panel host, Samantha Langevin, Becca Lewis, Dan Barlow, and Rob Meehan.
About Vermont Foodbank
Vermont Foodbank is the state’s largest hunger-relief organization, providing nutritious food through a network more than 300 community partners – food shelves, meal sites, schools, hospitals, and housing sites. Food insecurity has increased dramatically over the past four years as a result of the pandemic and Vermont Foodbank and its network have been on the front lines, working to ensure that everyone has the food they need. Last year, Vermont Foodbank provided over 12.5 million pounds of food to people throughout Vermont. Vermont Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, is nationally recognized as one of the most effective and efficient nonprofits and food banks in the nation. Learn more at www.vtfoodbank.org
Source: 5.3.2024. Killington, VT – www.vtfoodbank.org
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