Food Insecurity - Organizations Working Toward Change

All of us need help sometimes. Now, more than ever, the Feeding America network of food banks is here to help you get access to food and other assistance.

STUDENT HUNGER IS REAL. WE CAN HELP END IT. In the 2020 – 2021 school year, we provided 500,000 meals to students across the nation.

Every kid needs three meals a day to grow up healthy, happy and strong. But today in America, too many children are missing those meals. The good news? This is a problem we know how to solve.

Find a list of anti-hunger organizations in your state. 

A comprehensive list of NYC Neighborhood Food Resources

Meals on Wheels focuses on caring for individuals whose diminished mobility makes it hard to shop for food, prepare meals or socialize with others. Generally programs serve adults 60 and over, although age requirements can vary by program and areas served. 

• This organization connects individuals to affordable foods and promotes community-based solutions that result in self-reliance, economic justice and food security.

This non-profit organization helps you sign up for Food Stamps - without dozens of pages of confusing government paperwork. Find out how much you could save by seeing if you qualify right now.

SNAP provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency.

WIC provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education to pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five. 

The TANF program provides states and territories with flexibility in operating programs designed to help low-income families with children achieve economic self-sufficiency. 

(TEFAP) is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. 

The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) works to improve the health of low-income persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA Foods.

The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school day. 

The SBP provides reimbursement to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. State education agencies administer the SBP at the state level, and local school food authorities operate the program in schools.

The SFSP is a federally-funded, state-administered program. SFSP reimburses program operators who serve free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in low-income areas.

The SFMNP is designed to:

• Provide low-income seniors with access to locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey and herbs.
• Increase the domestic consumption of agricultural commodities through farmers' markets, roadside stands, and community supported agricultural programs.
• Aid in the development of new and additional farmers' markets, roadside stands, and community support agricultural programs.

A number of federal tax credit programs are designed specifically for workers with children and dependents. The goal of these programs is to help workers maintain employment by offsetting the costs related to caring for children and dependents.

This section includes general information about tax credits for families, as well as specific information about the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the Adoption Tax Credit.

In addition, this section explores credits available for those investing in their education and health.

Growing some of our own food either in our backyard or in our community is a simple yet effective way of taking power over our health and well-being while at the same time working for the greater good.

The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) is a grassroots non-profit advocacy organization focused on community gardening.  Our mission is to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada.

If you are a newbie or intermediate farmer, we welcome you on your regeneration journey! Check out our favorite tips, tricks, resources, and various training programs to get fully equipped with the basics to get in the gardening groove and mood!

Founded in 2011, we operate local urban farms, increase access to and knowledge of healthy food for Harlem residents, and provide garden-based development programs to Harlem youth.

We believe that challenges unique to urban communities like Detroit (e.g., vacant land, food security) present a unique opportunity for community-supported agriculture.

We hope to empower urban communities by using agriculture as a platform to promote education, sustainability, and community while simultaneously reducing socioeconomic disparity.

We grow healthy produce across a network of seven urban farms in the heart of St. Louis and donate the majority of the harvest to nonprofit partners serving communities with limited or non-existent access to healthy, nutritious food. We also educate and engage the surrounding community in these efforts.

IF YOU GROW TOGETHER, YOU GROW TOGETHER

RFP's mission is to grow strong communities that think presently, act intentionally, and lay the groundwork for something beyond what we can see. Help us spread this dream of edible, urban gardens, and nourish our neighborhoods one city-block at a time.

Whitelock Community Farm provides affordable and sustainable fresh food to members of the community, supports neighborhood job creation, and helps promote gardening, composting, and positive community activity.

In support of their mission, they also host farm-based learning programs such as gardening and cooking classes for children and adults.

AmpleHarvest.org helps millions of backyard gardeners easily find a local food pantry to which they can donate their extra garden produce.

Our mission is to create a more healthy, sustainable, and local food system by creating a market for homegrown food. 

The Food is Free Project is a worldwide movement of people growing and sharing food freely. We encourage connecting with your neighbors by planting a front yard garden or sharing your harvest with a #foodisfree table.

The mini pantry movement is a grassroots, crowdsourced solution to immediate and local need. Whether a need for food or a need to give, mini pantries help feed neighbors, nourishing neighborhoods. 

Freedge is a sharing mechanism aiming to reduce food insecurity and food waste, building a stronger community. We promote equal access to healthy food through the installation of community fridges (public refrigerators) that are used to share food and ideas at the neighborhood level.

WCK uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies through times of crisis and beyond.

Struggling children and families need your help more than ever during the continued pandemic. Each dollar donated will provide $8 worth of the food and essentials we are working tirelessly to get into the hands of the most vulnerable in the US and around the world.

We’re on the road to end hunger, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Goal #2 of Zero Hunger. From the implementation of sustainable community development projects to our meal packaging program that harnesses the passion of local volunteers, we strive to make an impact on hunger by building resilience, self-sufficiency and empowerment in communities worldwide.

People-power makes us what we are: a powerful, rooted, independent force dedicated to ending the injustices that cause hunger.

Heifer USA supports small-scale farmers to deliver fresh, nutritious food to reliable markets by providing them with training, education and resources needed to sell their products for a fair price. This work is critical to helping small-scale American farmers lift themselves out of poverty.

Mealshare exists to make sure youth hunger is ended within our lifetime. We’re committed to creating a world where it’s easier to share with those in need, and every child and youth is fed as a result. And, we won’t stop until that’s happened.

Penny Appeal USA is a relief and development organization with a really BIG vision for the world. We want to create the best communities we can; to break the cycles of need and poverty for good. That’s why we work to turn small change into a BIG DIFFERENCE.

The Alliance to End Hunger engages diverse institutions to build the public and political will to end hunger at home and abroad.

With each year, the number of meals packed by Hunger Fight volunteers has grown significantly. Hunger Fight staged 68 meal packing events in 2020, producing over 2.49 million meals.