Food insecurity, language barriers and a lack of transportation access are buzzwords that might feel abstract, especially given how often the terms are thrown around.
But to give these pervasive struggles names and faces, a Northampton nonprofit founded at the height of the pandemic has received $20,000 to produce the stories of local people struggling to provide for themselves — and spin those stories into advocacy for improved public policies.
Since 2022, the Hampshire County Food Policy Council, a resident-led coalition supported by the Collaborative for Educational Services, has been compiling local stories about the impacts of food insecurity and the systemic factors that contribute to hunger. The focus of this new effort will be to expand this grassroots work and use it for advocacy.
“This next phase of the project is about moving from storytelling for community building and connection, and moving toward using storytelling for advocacy: getting people involved in trying to change the policies and the systems that shape our food system that are often negatively impacting people in our community,” said Kristen Whitmore, transformational operations coordinator with the council.
That’s where the $20,000 Community Power Grant from Project Bread, the state’s leading food security organization, comes in. Adriana Mendes-Sheldon, director of community partnerships at Project Bread, said the funding will help the council identify “deep structural disparities” experienced by people facing food insecurity.
“Food insecurity is not just about food … true transformation happens when power is redistributed and communities most impacted by food insecurity are part of shaping the solutions,” she said.
The grant will help the council invest in grassroots leadership and advocacy with the goal of building long-term capacity for organizing and having a sustainable impact that goes beyond charity and toward systemic change, Mendes-Sheldon said.
