Food – Do you take it for granted?

You need food, you go to the grocery store right? Well, for many in Dane County, its not that simple.

FIGHTING POVERTY COALTION HOSTS FOOD ACCESS/HUNGER AWARENESS EVENT
Access to Affordable and Healthy Food is Important Issue for Those Living in Poverty

Thursday February 23, the Fighting Poverty Coalition (FPC) will host an event at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 605 Spruce Street, from 6-8 pm.

The goal of the FPC Food Access / Hunger Awareness event is to raise awareness of food access in Dane County in regards to access and affordability of grocery stores and use of pantries to fulfill basic food needs for those living in poverty.

Attendees will participate in a grocery shopping simulation with options of two grocery stores—one “good”, the other “not so good” (looking at prices and location). Shopping will be done with limited funds that may then result in the need to access a food pantry to meet the family’s food needs. There will also be a food pantry simulation to increase general awareness of what is needed to use pantries and what may be found at pantries.

There will be charts and fact sheets of food access and hunger issues in the area, including barriers to access such as transportation issues. According to Selena Pettigrew, President of the Allied Dunns Marsh Neighborhood Association, access to grocery stores can be a big issue in certain neighborhoods in Madison such as Allied Drive, “There is no grocery store here. You can go to Walgreens or the Mobil gas station to get bread and eggs but pay triple the price.” She also states that taking a bus to get to an affordable grocery store is extremely prohibitive, “Before I got my truck, it would take me four hours to get there and back to go to the Woodman’s by bus.”

Petitions and flyers of the “Food is a Human Right” Resolution will also be available. This resolution has been forwarded by the Madison-based community justice organization, Freedom Inc., and is being introduced to the Madison Common Council and Dane County Board for support. According to Monica Adams, member of Freedom Inc., “What is threatening us is not really an economic crisis, what is really happening is a human rights crisis. Food, in the simplest since, is a human right. This means that all people, such as the poor, people of color, people with disabilities, queer etc… have a right to eat healthy fresh food, grow their own food, and sell food. We are fighting to de-commodify food. The function of food should be to feed people, and not be a profit center for corporations.”

Information on food waste from grocery stores and area school districts will also be presented and discussed.

The Fighting Poverty Coalition is a collaborative group of organizations including Progressive Dane, Madison Urban Ministry, Freedom Inc., Operation Welcome Home, and other individuals concerned about the impact of poverty in the growing and diverse communities of Dane County. The FPC will invest in the future of Dane County by working to end poverty through unified efforts around race, education, health, housing, jobs and livable wages, transportation and food issues with education, outreach and advocacy.