Food For Free Joins Historic Coalition to End Hunger Statewide

Hunger is a multifaceted issue and intersects with many other problems society continues to struggle with, including: homelessness, poverty, educational disparity, racism and violent crime. We tell ourselves that these problems could be addressed with collective action, community investment and mobilization for change, and then we fall short of taking sufficient action at a community level. Building community and finding innovative solutions to hunger are some of our organization’s strengths, which is why Food For Free is proud to join the ?Make Hunger History Coalition.

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For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth a group of the state’s leading anti-hunger advocates and organizations are coming together to develop a plan to solve hunger permanently in Massachusetts. If successful, we will be the first U.S. state to do so. And believe it or not, it is possible.

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This fall, the coalition will reveal the action plan that will be built over the next several months. With Project Bread as the lead, we will be working alongside policymakers, community leaders, philanthropists, business leaders, service providers and people with lived experience with food insecurity to transform local food systems.

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At Food For Free we are working everyday alongside our partners to ensure that the communities we serve have access to healthy and fresh food consistently. As an innovator in access and distribution, we take pride in delivering this food to critical community touch points, including community centers, food pantries, affordable housing sites, schools, and community colleges, just to name a few.? We got our start in Cambridge in 1981 as one of the first organizations to rescue food that would otherwise go to waste and create ways to distribute that food in a way that met the needs of the people in the community. From our very beginning, Food For Free has centered each distribution on dignity and choice, not just feeding people.

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Today we have several different programs like Just Eats, through which we distribute 1,280 grocery boxes and up to 27,500 pounds of bulk produce and shelf-stable food every week to community partners like schools, food pantries and affordable housing sites, Healthy Eats, which brings boxes of food to the doorsteps of seniors and people living with disabilities, and Heat-n-Eats, which takes prepared food from corporate, university, and hospital dining services and turns it into healthy, balanced, single-serving meals that can be warmed up for a hot delicious meal to those who need it. We also offer free School Markets that feature produce, eggs and healthy shelf-stable pantry items and Weekend Eats Carrot Cards to students in Cambridge and Somerville schools to ensure that students and their families never have to make tough choices about accessing healthy foods.?

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Last month, Food For Free was among the coalition partners recognized by the White House as a leading partner in the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities – a nationwide call-to-action to solve hunger by 2030. Within the last year, we have proudly served more than 150,000 Massachusetts residents facing food insecurity through our partners and distributed 6.2 million pounds of nutritious fresh and prepared foods.

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Having experienced hunger as a child, the work of the Make Hunger History Coalition is both important to me and necessary. Join us in our plan to take action; together, we can end hunger once and for all.

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To learn more about the mission and to join the Make Hunger History Coalition action team, visit: MakeHungerHistoryMA.org.

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