Anti-Hunger Organizations Come Together to Shine Light on Food Insecurity in Vermont and New Hampshire
Discuss Lessons Learned from Pandemic and What it Will Take to Truly End Hunger with Congressman Welch
What: National anti-hunger organization, Hunger Free America joins with state organizations Hunger Free Vermont, New Hampshire Hunger Solutions, and the Upper Valley Haven, to highlight the continued impact of the Covid-19 crisis on low-income families struggling with food insecurity in the Upper Valley and beyond. Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, is visiting Vermont as part of a coast-to-coast journey this summer and connecting with partner nonprofit organizations working on the front lines to bring food to communities in need as well as to bring an equitable and lasting end to hunger.
Joining these anti-hunger advocates will be Congressman Peter Welch.
Join these anti-hunger leaders to discuss ongoing community-based hunger relief, and new legislative efforts at the state and federal levels for universal school meals, eliminating the SNAP “Thrifty Food Plan,” raising the minimum wage, and other measures that are required to truly end hunger.
Why: The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect low-income households that were already struggling with poverty and hunger before the health crisis.
1 in 3 people in Vermont experienced food insecurity in the past year, and the risk of hunger doubled for families with children, and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The hunger recovery in Vermont and New Hampshire could take years unless state and federal governments take bold action. After 2008, it took 12 years for the rates of hunger in Vermont to decline back to the totally unacceptable pre-recession level of 1 in 10. In March 2021, despite New Hampshire’s improving economy, 68,000 households reported that they had difficulty getting enough food, and 26,000 adults reported that children in their household weren’t eating enough because the household could not afford enough food.
We must never “go back” to the systems that created these “norms.” Federal policies enacted during the pandemic, including increasing 3SquaresVT (SNAP) and WIC benefit levels, and allowing for universal school, summer, childcare, and afterschool meals, must become a “new normal.”
Thursday, June 3:
12:30-1:00pm: Media Event at the Upper Valley Haven
Location: 713 Hartford Ave., White River Junction, Vermont
Speakers: Joel Berg, CEO, Hunger Free America
Michael Redmond, Executive Director, Upper Valley Haven
Anore Horton, Executive Director, Hunger Free Vermont
Laura Milliken, Executive Director, New Hampshire Hunger Solutions Hon. Peter Welch, U.S. House of Representatives
Attendees: Representative of Hon. Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senate
Representative of Hon. Annie Kuster, U.S. House of Representatives
About Hunger Free America: Hunger Free America is a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food. We are both a direct service and advocacy organization — with each component strengthening the other. HFA’s coast-to-coast programming includes an AmeriCorps*VISTA national service program (with sites in Vermont) and the National Hunger Hotline (1-866-3-HUNGRY) , which the organization operates on behalf of USDA.
About the Upper Valley Haven: With the support of the Upper Valley community, the Haven assists those who are experiencing poverty to be free from hunger, to be securely housed, to pursue a self-directed life, and to reach their full potential. The Upper Valley Haven provides temporary shelter, housing navigation, community outreach and service coordination for families and adults experiencing homelessness and poverty, afterschool and summer camp programs for children affected by the trauma of homelessness, and food to anyone in need. The Haven is open 365 days per year, never charges for any of
its services, and serves over 14,500 people annually from both Vermont and New Hampshire. In addition to delivery of needed services, the Haven is focused on solutions through community development and advocacy at local, state, and national levels.
About Hunger Free Vermont: Hunger Free Vermont is Vermont’s statewide nonprofit organization that advocates and educates to bring a permanent end to hunger through systemic change, universal strategies, and community collaboration. Since 1993, Hunger Free Vermont’s outreach programs have substantially enhanced Vermont’s nutrition safety net. We work to expand access to the federal programs that provide nutritious foods for school, childcare, summer and afterschool meals, and to 3SquaresVT (known nationally as SNAP), which provides healthy food for Vermonters at home. Our mission is to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all in Vermont.
About New Hampshire Hunger Solutions: New Hampshire Hunger Solutions' mission is to advocate to end food insecurity, improve access to nutritious food, and address hunger’s root causes for all New Hampshire residents. We work to identify and clear the obstacles that prevent more children and families from benefiting from federal nutrition programs, including working with schools to expand federal child nutrition programs, and advocacy with the state to remove administrative barriers to other federal nutrition programs.
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