Elevating Voices for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health

The White House is holding a National Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, with the goal of ending hunger, increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030.

“The last conference of this nature, held in 1969, was historic in its impact and established, harmonized, and expanded much of the U.S. food policy framework that is still in place today,” said Catherine Lynn, VP of Communications and Public Affairs. “We have an incredible opportunity in the aftershock of the pandemic to leverage lessons learned and advance efficient and equitable food policy priorities for future generations.”

This summer in an effort to engage and elevate the voices of our community, GBFB hosted two virtual discussions, collected video testimony submissions and online forms in English and Spanish to hear feedback, experiences, and anti-hunger policy recommendations from our partner agencies and clients. These valuable insights were captured in a formal comment sent on behalf of Eastern Massachusetts from GBFB in July.

“We need to remove the shame and stigma that surrounds people experiencing food insecurity. I want to see more people with lived experience of navigating complicated social service systems making the decisions in leadership in food access initiatives,” said one participating pantry client and volunteer from Medford.

GBFB also participated in convenings hosted by a variety of stakeholders locally and nationally to share our collective recommendations, and Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO of GBFB, participated in a Task Force convening in Washington, DC.

UPDATE:

On Thursday, 9/29, GBFB hosted an in-person panel discussion to debrief the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and discuss how to advance the national strategy here in Massachusetts. The event was open to the public and held at Roxbury Community College. Read more or watch the edited 30 minute panel recording. Featured panelists: Donnette McManus: Client Advocate, Catholic Charities; Marylou Sudders: Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services; Sal DiDomenico: Massachusetts State Senator (D-Middlesex and Suffolk); Andres Vargas: Massachusetts State Representative (D-Haverhill); Gordon Reid: President of Stop & Shop; Robin Sommer – Deputy Policy Manager, Northeast for Instacart; Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Interim President, Roxbury Community College; Lisa Carter, RCC Project Access; Catherine D’Amato: President and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank.