Thank You for an Amazing Summit!
View the sessions below
Hosted by the Alliance to End Hunger on November 18th and 19th., the goals of the 2020 Hunger Free Communities Virtual Summit were to understand the changing landscape of hunger and build a resilient post-pandemic America.
The Summit:
- Highlighted effective policies and methods for reducing community food insecurity
- Shared best practices and resources
- Demonstrated effective multi-sector collaborations
- Developed skills among practitioners
Watch the Sessions
Plenary Sessions
Welcome Remarks by U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
Keynote: Lillian D. Singh, Vice President, Programs & Racial Wealth Equity, Prosperity Now
“Examining the Impact of Structural Racism on Food Insecurity & Hunger” The higher rates of food insecurity, poverty, and growing racial economic inequality are a direct result of systemic racial discrimination in virtually every aspect of American life. The legacy of oppression has lived on through policies that have trapped millions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in poverty cycles for generations. Food insecurity and hunger are racial economic justice issues, and together, we will explore emergent community-driven best practices and policy solutions to addressing these issues.
Speakers:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger (Moderator)
– Tony Hall | Executive Director Emeritus, Alliance to End Hunger – Lillian Singh | Vice President, Programs & Racial Wealth Equity, Prosperity Now
– U.S. Senator John Boozman | Senior United States senator for Arkansas and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation, United States Senate
– Eric Mitchell | Executive Director, Alliance to End Hunger Description:
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted all facets of life and created a significant hunger crisis in America. This panel will feature a number of Alliance’s corporate partners discussing how the coronavirus affected their operations, how they responded and how they continue to address the hunger crisis brought on by COVID.
Speakers:
-Devry Boughner Vorwerk | CEO, DevryBV Sustainable Strategies (Moderator)
-Bettina Stix | Director, Right Now Needs and Disaster Relief, Amazon
-Amie Kegler | Impact Lead, Global Engagement in Food Recovery, General Mills Foundation
-Roxanne Moore | Executive Director, Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation
-Stephanie Lomibao-Parra | SVP / National Philanthropy Manager, Bank of America
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted all facets of life and created a significant hunger crisis in America. This panel will feature national anti-hunger organizations who are part of the Alliance to End Hunger discussing how their organizations have responded to COVID-19. Bread for the World, Feeding America, Islamic Relief USA, Meals on Wheels America and Share Our Strength will discuss how the pandemic impacted their networks, how the organizations changed or leaned-in to support their networks, how they worked collaboratively for an adequate federal legislative and administrative response to the pandemic and lessons learned.
Speakers:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger (Moderator)
– Chonya Johnson | Lobbyist, Bread for the World
– Jihad Saleh Williams | Islamic Relief USA – Monica Gonzales | Share Our Strength
– Katie Jantzi | Director, Government Affairs, Meals on Wheels America
– Corey Malone-Smolla | Policy Specialist, Feeding America
Speakers:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger (Moderator)
– Graham Christensen | President and Founder, GC ReVOLT – Tony Hall | Executive Director Emeritus, Alliance to End Hunger
– The Honorable Senator Debbie Stabenow | United States Senator, Michigan
Keynote: Graham Christensen, Farmer, Founder & President, GC Resolve
“Building Resilient Communities From The Soil Up” Graham Christensen will discuss how Covid-19 has brought more awareness to national security concerns around the current food production model including the disparities impacting farmers, workers, and consumers alike. Christensen will help identify key policy focuses that will shift food production towards an equality, ecologically, and ethically-based regenerative food system. Graham will address audience questions.
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted all facets of life and created a significant hunger crisis in America. In this panel, Hunger Free Communities partner organizations describe the impacts of coronavirus on their communities and how they have adapted to the new daily reality of COVID. Representing a variety of geographic areas, panelists will discuss the lessons learned from the pandemic and what it will take to build resilience for the future.
Speakers:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger (Moderator)
– Amanda Schultz Brochu | VP, Chief Program Officer, San Diego Hunger Coalition
– Kate Howe | Managing Director, INDY HUNGER NETWORK
– Heather Bruskin | Executive Director, Montgomery County Food Council
– Faye Mack | Advocacy & Education Director, Hunger Free Vermont
– Liz Accles | Executive Director, Community Food Advocates
This is a time of transition for many established anti-hunger organizations with leadership changes at Alliance to End Hunger, Bread for the World, Feeding America and Food Research & Action Center. Meet the new, inspirational leaders of these organizations and get to know their visions for the future of their organizations and for ending hunger in America.
Speakers:
– Shannon Maynard | Executive Director, Congressional Hunger Center (Moderator)
– Claire Babineaux-Fontenot | CEO, Feeding America
– Eric Mitchell | Executive Director, Alliance to End Hunger
– Luis Guardia | President, Food Research & Action Center
– Reverend Eugene Cho | President/CEO, Bread for the World
Breakout Sessions
Now more than ever, the need for social supports and services that seek to close the gap impacting those most vulnerable are magnified. Leaders of three prominent organizations focused on addressing medically tailored nutrition needs – from both a programmatic and policy lens – will discuss successes, obstacles and critical policy levers to better serve those lacking basic resources. With increased demand for healthy meals, particularly among those facing food insecurity and compromised health – where nutrition support is critical, these organizations will underscore how they work together and with partners to meet this growing need.
Speakers:
– David Waters | CEO, Community Servings
– Alissa Wassung | Senior Director of Policy & Planning, God’s Love We Deliver
– Cathryn Couch | Founder and CEO, Ceres Community Project
– Barb Petee | Executive Director, The Root Cause Coalition
– Alexandra Lewin-Zwerdling | Root Cause Coalition
The dramatic increase in food insecurity during the current COVID pandemic, and the resulting economic crisis is an opportunity to evaluate the limitations of past food security frameworks and to adopt a more expansive framework which challenges the health and other sectors to strategically leverage their assets to improve access to nutritious food for all U.S residents. Adoption of the Food as a Right framework rather than Food as Medicine requires the health sector to implement interventions and policies which improve food security and health over the lifespan. Additionally the framework requires the health sector to collaborate with other sectors to promote and advocate for the necessary policy changes which enable most individuals to provide adequate nutrition for their families, while also advancing a safety net system, which is adequate, person-centered and easy to access. Examples of health institutions implementing these programs and policies across the U.S. will be sited as well as examples of health sectors engaging in collaborative efforts to advance food as a right including: · Multi-benefit enrollment strategies which leverage partnerships, technology and new models · Health sector labor practices which provide living wages to those previously unemployed · Health sector engaging in collaborations and advocacy efforts to improve food security, and access to nutritious food at the city, state and national level.
Speakers:
– Sandra Stenmark | University of Colorado school of medicine
– Marydale DeBor | Managing Director, Fresh Advantage LLC
In this session, participants will: (1) understand the historical traumas of what we are seeing today and how this structural racism increases food insecurity during covid-19; (2) review “how” responses to COVID-19 have not applied racial equity; (3) refer to the Executive Summary to the upcoming report titled “Racially Equitable Responses to COVID-19” to see concrete recommendations that participants can take with them to advocate for racially equitable responses to COVID-19 on the local, state or federal levels; (4) learn about a tool designed by Mrs. Gamblin to help them rate other policies related to hunger and covid-19 called the “Racial Equity Scorecard Tool.”
Speaker:
– Marlysa D. Gamblin | Senior Policy Advisor, Race and Gender Divides, Bread for the World Institute
How might we use data and digital tools at the community level to better support the network of hunger-relief organizations? Panelists from three US cities will share their analyses, data visualizations and recommendations for the use of data and digital tools to address community food security.
The City of Austin, TX Office of Sustainability, a coalition of corporate, non-profit, academic and health system leaders in Cincinnati OH, and a collective action task force of funders, providers and data science students in Evanston, IL will all share their stories of using data to respond to food insecurity rates rising in their respective cities.
Speakers:
– Maura Shea | Feeding America – Edwin Marty | Food Policy Manager, Office of Sustainability, City of Austin
– Clare Zutz | Doctoral Student, Community & Regional Planning, University of Texas at Austin
– Adi Tyagi | Master of Science in Analytics Candidate, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University
– Xiaohan (Aria) Wang | Master’s Student in Analytics, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University
– Doris Cao | Master of Science in Analytics Candidate, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University
– Charles Hoffman | Senior Data Scientist, 84.51°
Food insecurity exists when a household does not have reliable access to the healthy food they need to live an active life. In Maryland, there was no reliable tool to measure food insecurity at a state/jurisdiction-level among students. With the assistance of the Maryland Department of Health and the CDC DASH, two questions that measured food insecurity were added to the Maryland Youth Risk Behavior Survey/Youth Tobacco Survey. This analysis aims to discuss the disparities that place many racial/ethnic minorities at an increased risk of food insecurity compared to their White counterparts and the health risk behaviors that students who are food insecure face.
The 2018 Maryland YRBS/YTS, a cross-sectional survey, used the state-added questions to assess food insecurity among students. Students were identified as food insecure if they often or sometimes worried their family’s ability to purchase food was in jeopardy and/or if their ran out of food before they had money to buy more food. Approximately, 68,000 students were sampled in Maryland public middle school and high schools during the fall of 2018.
The data shows about 25% of middle school and 28% of high school students in Maryland are food insecure. Black and Hispanic/Latino students are over two times more likely to be food insecure than White students. Food insecure students are significantly more likely to have mental health issues, use tobacco products, and physically fight.
These findings suggest that Black and Hispanic/Latino students have a disproportionate burden of food insecurity in Maryland. The prevalence of other risk behaviors that threaten the health and well-being of youth are highest among food insecure students. In order to have a more equitable Maryland, youth food insecurity need to be addressed through the increased utilization of Maryland food programs like SNAP, Maryland Meals for Achievement, and Hunger-Free Schools in all jurisdictions.
Speakers:
– Nikardi Jallah | Epidemiologist, Maryland Department of Health
– Tam Lynne Kelley | Senior Manager, Share Our Strength
Information on where and how to access food assistance in Indianapolis was difficult to find, often out of date, and confusing. We wanted to help more people find the help they need by creating a smart phone app and texting service that provides information on both federal nutrition programs and charitable hunger relief resources. We will provide an overview of how we created the app, including developing the idea, testing it with the community we hoped to assist, finding a tech company to build the app, securing funding, testing the app with a variety of user groups, and launching the app to the public in the midst of a pandemic.
Speakers:
– Kate Howe | Managing Director, INDY HUNGER NETWORK
– Karine Jannetta | Director of Service Delivery, Level Up Development
– Shellye Suttles | Assistant Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
– Milele Kennedy | Food Program & Policy Coordinator, Office of Public Health and Safety, City of Indianapolis
Islamic Relief USA’s session will be hosted as a panel discussion, featuring four partner organizations that are working daily to address food security in their local communities. After a brief introduction of the work that Islamic Relief USA is doing to address food security in the United States, the partner organizations will share their stories. There will be three parts to the discussion: a presentation from Muslim Social Services Agency, a join presentation by FJV Foundation and Purple Hearts Inc, and a presentation from Sabil USA. Each segment will discuss the increased need that their local communities have faced due to the pandemic and the ways in which the organizations have innovated and adjusted the models of service to address the need. Case studies of increased service and expanded reach will highlight the ways in which community based organizations think fast and think creatively to continuously provide service. The panelists will share success stories of collaboration and increased partnership to create better access to food for their local communities. The session will conclude with time to ask the panelists questions about their specific work.
Speakers:
– Marwa Latif | US Programs Specialist, Islamic Relief USA – Hassan Amin | Executive Director, Muslim Social Services Agency
– Anna Powell | Director, Purple Hearts Inc.
– Tonia Granger | Executive Director, FJV FOUNDATION
– Samar Aziz | E D, Sabil USA
In this interactive, discussion-based lesson, we will focus on food skills such as label reading, using ingredient lists, and calculating and comparing unit prices. All nutrition information follows the principles of MyPlate and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The lesson goes beyond just increasing knowledge about which foods are better for our bodies, focusing on why the words we use to talk about foods with kids is critical and how we can use language to promote adopting healthier eating. Though our lesson plan is designed for teachers, it is useful for non-profits that work with teachers and/or offer nutrition education, as will discuss our own journey in developing the lesson plan through connecting with teachers, schools, non-profits, hospitals, and state agencies.
Speakers:
– Alex Handfinger | Nutrition Outreach Manager, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
– Samantha Stadter | Nutrition Director, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
Meal kits are all the rage these days. So much so, that when the COVID-19 Pandemic interrupted food supply chains, the USDA created the “Farmers to Families Food Box” program to support alternative methods of getting food to consumers. Appetite For Change has had the opportunity to adapt its flagship program Community Cooks into a new model for community engagement during the pandemic.
With community partnerships and philanthropy, the Appetite For Change Meal Box Program is a pilot to provide Minneapolis-Saint Paul families a dignified and COVID-safe food experience through delivery of a meal box including fresh, local produce, and healthy ingredients to compose 2 meals with 6 servings each. Included in each box are recipe cards, and support guides for simple preparations and food skill development. Pilot participants come from across the lifespan and hold intersecting identities including Transgender, Black, African, White, Latinx, Native American and Asian. More than 65% of participants are concerned their food will run out before they get more money.
Compounding the existing health and economic challenges posed by the pandemic is the recent unrest fueled by the murder of George Floyd. North Minneapolis experienced significant damage to local businesses, particularly small and large food retailers and medical facilities. The meal box program has been a beacon for the communities we serve. Come learn about the innovative new model.
Speakers:
– Nicole Powell | Community Cooks Manager, Appetite For Change
– Tom Vance | Development Facilitator, Appetite For Change
– Amy Shanafelt | Grants Manager, Appetite For Change
In 2018, A Place at the Table, in partnership with FrameWorks Institute, set out to identify ways in which well-framed communications can shift the public’s understanding of hunger in America, including why it exists, it’s impact on society and the importance of systemic change and good policy in ending it. A narrative shift that destigmatizes hunger and makes space for human dignity, rather than assigning blame to those already suffering, is a core need for the current movement to end hunger, and solutions focused on impacting systemic change will ultimately shift what hunger looks like across America. Especially in this pandemic moment, anti-hunger and food system leaders and organizations play a critical role in communicating about the issue of hunger and are the most important spokespeople for systemic, long term solutions. Kristen Castree from A Place at the Table will review a communications playbook for food space leaders that resulted from the research with FrameWorks Institute.
Speaker:
– Kristen Castree | Executive Director, A Place at the Table
A host of pandemic-prompted waivers for the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children has brought a wave of innovation to the WIC program – changes many WIC experts think can fundamentally improve participant experience and drive up enrollment rates if made permanent. This panel looks at ways to improve WIC that will drive better nutrition and public health outcomes as well as making the program easier to use and more effective for participants.
Speakers:
– Brian Dittmeier | Senior Public Policy Counsel, National WIC Association
– Katrina Harwood | WIC and Public Health Supervisor, Public Health Madison & Dane County
– Madeline Curtis | Senior Policy Associate, American Academy of Pediatrics
– Allison Yates-Berg | Vice President, ideas42 – Elyse Kovalsky | Senior Manager, Program Innovation, Share Our Strength/No Kid Hun
This session will review Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)- End Hunger. It will review the advocacy approach to SDG2, the key advocacy moments coming up in 2021 on SDG2 and how to bring more people into the fight for Hunger Free Communities.
It will explore how the disruptive voices of chefs can help shift the narrative and drive progress on the Global Goals. Paul is joined by renowned chef, cookbook author and television personality Mary Sue to disucss how chefs can contribute to progress on the Global Goals, including the fight for Hunger Free Communities, structured through the eight thematic areas of the Chefs’ Manifesto (and especially pillar 8: nutritious food that is accessible and affordable for all; and pillar 3: investment in livelihoods).
Take-aways for participants are:
- Chefs’ Manifesto Website: http://sdg2advocacyhub.org/chefs-manifesto
- Good Food For All video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THdjsC-hKaY&t=5s
- Good Food For All Website and Toolkit: www.goodfoodforallsdg2.com
- Chefs’ Manifesto Tool Kit: www.chefsmanifesto.com
Speaker:
– Paul Newnham | Director, SDG2 Advocacy Hub
Other Content
This 45-minute webinar explores the Hunger Free Communities (HFC) Impact Framework. This video presentation explains the HFC conceptual model, collective impact and introduces the HFC Impact Framework. Examples of successful implementation of the conceptual framework are explored. This is a good introduction to the Hunger Free Communities initiative.
Speaker:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger
Tony Hall, a a leading advocate for global hunger relief programs and improving human rights, gives a talk about informing people that they have a hunger problem in the world. 21,000 people will die today from hunger in the world and 48 million people are hungry in America. But, we can do something about it. Do the thing in front of you!
Thrice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Ambassador Tony Hall is a leading advocate for global hunger relief programs and improving human rights. He currently serves as executive director emeritus of the Alliance to End Hunger, through which he meets regularly with members of Congress to encourage them to become more actively engaged on hunger issues. He also leads the Hall Hunger Initiative in Dayton. Ambassador Hall served as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome, Italy. Prior to this, he represented the Third District of Ohio in the U.S. Congress for 24 years where he authored legislation that supported food aid, child survival, and basic education in the world’s poorest countries.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
Speaker:
– Tony Hall | Executive Director Emeritus, Alliance to End Hunger
The goal of the SAW is to assist a HFC coalition in determining for itself the critical elements for effective organizational management and network functioning and to identify those areas in need of strengthening or further development. The SAW is designed to enable organizational learning, foster team sharing, and encourage reflective self-assessment within an anti-hunger coalition. It can be used for strategic planning, evaluation and building group cohesion.
Speaker:
– Minerva Delgado | Director, Coalitions & Advocacy, Alliance to End Hunger
Creating a National Tackle Hunger Map: How we are creating a comprehensive database and helping food charities with a national campaign that supports their needs and shows their current status in real time. We will also explain how other national food charities are working together to gather this critical information.
Souper Bowl of Caring Playbook 2020 – 2021
Speaker:
– Alison Reese | Executive Director, Souper Bowl of Caring
Breaking Down Barriers to Food Access: Innovative Home Delivery Models
Learning Objectives:
– Learn about how United Way of King County and partners are tackling food insecurity by scaling two strategies that have emerged during the pandemic.
– Learn how a partnership between United Way of King County, over a dozen food banks, Safeway, and Door Dash are providing thousands of weekly food deliveries, including customized culturally appropriate groceries, to households who need it.
– Learn about how United Way is leveraging AmeriCorps and collaborating with partners to scale home delivery of federally reimbursed meals to 4,000 kids across 20 affordable housing sites.
Participants will be able to follow up with the presenter afterwards on any questions on model implementation. Presenter will share relevant websites for more information about Door Dash, AmeriCorps, etc., that participants can check out to see if that resource is a good fit for their community.
Speaker:
– Jenny Walden | Associate Director, Ending Poverty, United Way of King County
Introduction to the Meals 2 You initiative.
Speaker:
– Katie Nye | Statewide Field Director and Regional Director, Texas Hunger Initiative, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty
Learning Objectives
1- Participants gain a greater understanding of the importance of SNAP for college students.
2- Participants learn a new tool that will help college students access SNAP.
3- Participants learn a new tool that will help advocates connect to other advocacy organizations in the state.
Content
The Congressional Hunger Center and Swipe Out Hunger launched an innovative tool that provides up to date information on college student access to SNAP, by state, calledcollegeSNAPproject.org. This tool allows college students and advocates to learn about college student access to SNAP in their state and identify the organizations in theirstate advocating for expanded access to SNAP for college students. It also allows users to contribute data to the tool to ensure that the data is current. This session willdiscuss the problem of college student hunger, explain why increased access to SNAP for college students is critical for student food security, and demonstrate how the toolworks.
Take-aways
Swipe Out Hunger’s Advocacy Toolkit for college students
collegeSNAPproject.org
Speakers:
– Samantha Stevens | Senior Policy and Strategic Initiatives Specialist, Congressional Hunger Center
– Robb Friedlander | Advocacy and Organizing Manager, Swipe Out Hunger