FRN Advocacy Win: Expanded SNAP Benefits!

Introduction

We’re a full year into the pandemic (can you believe that?!) and this marathon sprint is catching up to us. Let’s take a moment to breathe deeply and celebrate some recent wins! Food Recovery Network (FRN) has flexed our advocacy skills by launching a new pilot program, the Advocacy Cohort, and by joining forces with Challah for Hunger to support the #FUELHigherEd Campaign. 

Both of these projects center on raising awareness of food insecurity, and learning how to leverage our skills and stories to tackle the escalating issue of hunger. This year, we’re focusing on expanding SNAP benefits. The new administration heard our demand, and in January 2021 passed legislation to raise SNAP benefits by 15%! But let’s start with some background information. 

What is SNAP?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a national program run by the federal government. You’ve probably heard of it referred to as food stamps. The purpose of this program is to aid individuals and families who are facing food insecurity by providing financial assistance for purchasing food. 

SNAP is one of America’s largest, most far reaching safety net programs, attempting to support the 54 million people who face food insecurity in this country. Eligibility differs from state to state, but is largely based on your household income. Students are also eligible to receive food assistance from the government. Eligibility can be a difficult road to navigate, and continuing to prove your need for assistance also causes challenges. Information about SNAP eligibility can be hard to find; a lot of students don’t even realize they qualify for support. Further, meeting the eligibility requirements of being a student and a worker proves difficult: What happens if you lose your job because your class schedule changes? What can you do if your job interferes with your ability to properly perform in class? These are challenges that plague students in need of assistance. 

Although SNAP supports hundreds of thousands of American citizens, there is still much room to grow in order to eradicate food insecurity completely. This may seem like a lofty goal, but it’s much more attainable than you think! That is why Food Recovery Network has committed to advocating for increased student access to and eligibility for SNAP.

How is FRN Involved?

In August 2020, FRN joined forces with Challah for Hunger on the #FUELHigherEd Campaign, focused on expanding SNAP eligibility for college students facing food insecurity. 

Along with many other partner organizations, we’ve been able to...

• Build advocacy skills with our student network through our Advocacy Cohort and Campaign Leader Trainings

• Connect with local, state, and federal representatives to talk about the impact of food insecurity and food assistance programs in local communities and states

• Host informative webinars with speakers who specialize in community organizing, state-level lobbying, and more

• Join campaign leader trainings to learn from leaders and students in other organizations that are also interested in this work

• Tweet at our representatives and engage with policymakers digitally

• Build and share resources expanding our knowledge about how to advocate for SNAP, such as our advocacy toolkits focusing on on-campus organizing, community organizing, and state and federal level advocacy

If this is the first time you’re hearing about FRN’s advocacy efforts, welcome! If you’ve been doing this work with us since the start, we see you and we congratulate you. We’re one semester into the #FUELHigherEd campaign, and we’re rolling our sleeves up for the next one. 

How can you get involved?

There are many ways for you to engage in the #FUELHigherEd campaign. 

• Sign your name to this letter to federal representatives demonstrating your support of #FUELHigherEd

• Catch Challah for Hunger’s Campaign Leader Trainings

• Forward these links to five people to raise awareness of this issue

Find more information about FRN’s advocacy work here. If you’re a student, invite your chapter to work through FRN’s Advocacy actions on the FRN Student Portal. We have strength in numbers, so tell your friends about this work!

If you or someone you know is in need of food assistance, find out your eligibility for receiving SNAP here.

Recent SNAP Win! 

It’s always important to celebrate your wins, especially in the field of advocacy. When the Biden administration took office in January 2021, one of its first actions was to expand SNAP benefits across the board. In light of COVID-19, the administration increased SNAP benefits by 15%, funneling more money to individuals and families. Biden additionally provided new money for food banks and childcare meals, hoping to provide direct assistance to families with young children who typically receive food assistance at school. 

This is a massive step forward in tackling the issue of food insecurity, especially during the pandemic, and we’re grateful for the hundreds of organizations and individuals across the country that are working together to raise awareness about food insecurity and to demonstrate the need for more assistance to our governing officials. 

But the work is not done. The pandemic still rages, creating an economic crisis and exacerbating food insecurity for millions of people. There is hope for more SNAP eligibility and benefit expansions with this new administration, and we applaud these recent wins. Regardless, we continue to strive to eradicate food insecurity in our country through enacting constructive change to anti-hunger policy.

An FRN Member’s Journey with The Farmlink Project

The Farmlink Project is quickly making a name for itself in the United States charitable food space. Like Food Recovery Network (FRN), The Farmlink Project is a national volunteer organization run almost entirely by college students, and its impact is astounding—over 25 million pounds of fresh food donated and over $5 million raised in less than one year. I’m an FRN member at the University of Virginia, which first brought me into contact with The Farmlink Project in July of 2020. 

The Process, Projects, and People

The Farmlink Project locates surplus produce from farms across the country and coordinates the logistics to deliver that produce to food banks and community organizations. We have a myriad of teams that make this all happen, and since joining, I’ve been fortunate to find myself on the Farms Team—I’m one of the people who source food by contacting farms directly and starting the conversation about who we are and what we do. This part of the process is open externally, so I also host groups of volunteers, many of them connected through FRN, and introduce them to The Farmlink Project’s system of researching and calling farm contacts.

Over the winter and into this spring, Farmlink members began a number of “Growth Projects” working to expand our impact in the food insecurity space. I chose to get involved in several of these projects. One that I’m particularly excited about is called Tax Fluency, through which I’m working with lawyers and accountants to determine how Farmlink can help farmers take advantage of federal tax benefits when they donate their surplus food. While still a work in progress, this project may lead us to reach more farms with larger quantities of food, as well as significantly increasing our value-add for those organizations. Other Growth Projects include policy advocacy, nutrition education, alternative transportation, and more.

Steps Forward

The work we do to move surplus food to communities in need is exciting, important, and impactful, but the primary reason I love dedicating my time to The Farmlink Project is because of the incredible community and work environment I get to be a part of. Meetings are high-energy and upbeat. Power Hours are relaxing, and the work is satisfying. Most importantly, The Farmlink Project team members are some of the kindest, smartest, most passionate people I’ve ever met, and they inspire me to be a better person every single day. In the time I’ve spent on this team, I’ve only ever wanted to have the opportunity to do more.

If The Farmlink Project sounds interesting to you, you can start by checking out our website and joining our Power Hours! You could be personally responsible for sending tons (literally) of fresh produce to communities in need. Otherwise, you can subscribe to the newsletter, follow our social media, and tell your friends! The larger our network is, the greater impact we can have.

That’s my story with The Farmlink Project—one that is nowhere near over. And hopefully, your story will begin soon, too.

Our National Board of Directors Reflect on our new Strategic Framework

When we released Food Recovery Network’s strategic framework, FRN10X, we recognized that it was largely informed by a collection of stakeholder voices, experiences and perspectives. This is fitting as FRN has always been guided by those within the food-recovery movement and welcomed feedback to guide our approach and where we’re headed.

This winter, our Board of Directors hosted a series of conversations with their professional and personal networks to discuss FRN10X. During the conversations, they gave an update on the work we’ve accomplished to date, what’s ahead and how others can join the movement.

After those conversations, many of our Board Members reflected on the sense of excitement and inspiration they felt. We want to share their reflections with you.

Image: Tina Gooch Gailbrath

FRN’s Vice President, Tina Gooch Gailbrath reflected on the current, very difficult circumstances in which we all live because of the pandemic. Tina noted, “I am really excited about FRN's ability to pivot during this pandemic and help those in need. This is a difficult time and food insecurity is more rampant than ever, so it's critical that we adapt our program and continue to help. I am most excited about introducing new people to FRN. Anyone who hears about FRN's work is impressed and supportive.  So it's fun to get the word out!”

Image: Frida Endinjok

Frida Endinjok, Student and Alumni Advisory Board President has dedicated her college years volunteering at FRN to raise her voice to highlight food insecurity among college students. Frida also mentors and teaches our FRN network her approach to advocacy work to give tools to more people to make a change on their college campuses to address this damaging issue of student hunger. Frida notes, “I'm always excited to share my work for it is not just based on my thoughts, but based on science. College food insecurity is real. How are college students asked to help others when they are food insecure themselves?.” Frida is a champion of equity and unapologetically requests that we look at who is affected by college student hunger, and who is able to help and notes, “Sadly, this is a problem among students of color and first-generation [college students], while other more advantaged students have time for ‘altruism.’”

Image: Matt Kruse

Sharing our work with as many people as possible is one of the best way for us to grow our movement. When people understand our model, they immediately connect with how we do our work. As a key function of their roles, the Board helps promote our work to new networks with the aim to get others inspired to be part of the movement. Matt Kruse noted, “overall, it was exciting for me to be able to contribute to FRN's cause in a new and dynamic way. Serving on the Board is a wonderful honor and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But to take off my "governance" hat for a few minutes and play a very direct role as an advocate for and champion of this movement is a real privilege.

Image: Jennifer Schmitt

FRN’s Board Secretary Jennifer Schmitt hosted a conversation with people from her personal and professional network and remarked, what struck her most was “how universal the issue of hunger and food waste is. We had people listening from 9 years to 70 years old, of varying backgrounds, ethnicities, and views. It was awesome how recovering food resonated with everyone.” Jennifer went on to remark, “I was most excited about sharing my work and passion [for Food Recovery Network] with friends and family.”

Maintaining our movement, keeping the work flowing is dependent upon our core people who continually do the work. Our students are our core, volunteering their time all across the country during college final exams, during winter and spring breaks. They volunteer while wildfires are raging and flooding and hurricanes devastated our communities because they know during these tragic moments, more people need them. Incredibly, twenty-five percent of our chapters have continued to recover during the pandemic. The amount of food they have recovered is equal to how much food 25% of our chapters recovered last year, pre-pandemic! This is a testament to their abilities and proves there is still so much food to be recovered.

Image: Claire Cummings

Claire Cummings has been on the Board of Directors for four years and previous to that sat on our Advisory Board. She understands deeply the power of our students and noted, ”I was really inspired hearing my co-Board member Bill [McConagha] talk about the opportunities for college student engagement and how volunteering with an FRN chapter is such a wonderful chance for students to do something meaningful and really see the tangible impact of their work. We are so often stuck in the world of hypotheticals and virtual connection, rarely do we get to directly have our hands involved in something that makes a difference in another person’s life and I was reminded that FRN is a great way for college students to do just that. It was really inspiring to have so many family members and people I work with learn about this organization I’ve been involved with for so many years, it felt like worlds colliding!”

Thank you to our National Board of Directors for sharing your insights with all of us, and for being part of the movement every single day. Food is a right. Together, we want to feed everyone who is hungry in this country with our beautiful, surplus food.

What can we learn from Texas?

The heartbeat of Food Recovery Network (FRN) is our 140 chapters across the U.S., comprising nearly 4,000 students, dining providers, food supplies, and local businesses who work together to recover surplus food and redistribute it to people in need. In a time when more than 54 million people are experiencing hunger, our work is needed more than ever, in certain areas more than ever. Using FRN10X as our guide, FRN is looking to learn how we can expand quickly, in one of the states with both the supply and demand we seek - Texas.

The model around the city of Houston is one we look to replicate across Texas, and eventually, across all 50 states. In Houston, you have both an ample supply of surplus food, coupled with communities where more than 20% of the population is experiencing hunger. Houston is also home to the University of Houston FRN chapters which, since its founding in 2014, has recovered more than 54,000 pounds of food, or 45,000 meals to people experiencing hunger in the area.

Looking at the map, you will see many of the FRN chapters are located in north Texas, but much of the need for surplus food is in south Texas. We look to establish chapters like the University of Houston -  meaning chapters in closer proximity to the need.

Start or join an existing chapter today.

Through outreach to potential students via social media, as well as activation of large and small employers in the state, we are seeking to add at least 20 chapters in Texas and measure how much more food we can put back into the supply chain as a result of this growth. We anticipate by putting more food into the food system faster, in the areas with the greatest need, we will be able to feed more people faster, ultimately lowering the number of people experiencing food insecurity in Texas.

Our learnings in Texas - what it takes to recruit and retain chapters, what it means to work within a new network of nonprofit partner agencies to distribute food, and how it shapes the contributions of our students in a given community - are all things we are looking to learn over the next ten weeks. We will take those learnings and seek to replicate the successes across all ten states of focus in the fall.

Please join us in expanding our network in Texas. You can do this by donating to FRN to support our outreach or connecting with program staff to connect us with the appropriate person at your Texas university.

Start or join an existing chapter today.

Top 3 Reasons to become an FRN Chapter

The COVID-19 pandemic has required humans to adapt in ways which could not have been imagined a year ago, and Food Recovery Network (FRN) as an organization is no different. At a time when more than 54 million people are experiencing hunger, our work is needed now more than ever. Along with our dedicated student leaders, we want you to join in the movement to recover surplus food to feed everyone who is hungry in the U.S.

So why should you join FRN?:

1. Because there are multiple ways for your chapter to show your commitment to your community. To start a chapter, you will choose one of three “tracks” to organize your chapter around: (1) recovering surplus food from your campus or a business in your community; (2) raising awareness about the fractured food system; or (3) advocating for change through activism and engagement. All are essential components to building a more just and equitable food system. Our program team helps you each step of the way.

2. Because you can help people in your community today. Issues of excess food and access to food can feel huge and rife with reasons that seem too big to begin to address. But FRN offers flexible ways to help your community based on your capacity on a given day. This may involve recovering surplus food at least once during a semester, sharing articles about food insecurity in your community with 10 friends or emailing your elected officials about ways they can help feed people today through a change of policies or regulations. It is about the time you have to contribute, and every little bit helps.

3. No really, every little bit helps. In the last 10 years, FRN recovered enough surplus food to provide 4.1 million meals. To give you an idea of what that means, this is equivalent to providing one meal to nearly every person in Oregon for one day. In 2020 alone, amidst a pandemic, FRN provided 868,771 meals to people in need, that is nearly one meal to every person in South Dakota. It also translates to over 7.4 million pounds of CO2 emissions prevented. This is what happens when every chapter does a little bit – it adds up to a whole lot.

Start or join an existing chapter today.