Witnesses To Hunger 2019
When the holiday season rolls around, there is a heightened awareness of hunger, and a desire by many to donate canned goods and turkeys and volunteer at soup kitchens. Hunger, however is a problem all year round, and the struggle of being food insecure, living without enough food to nourish yourself, is very real for too many people.
There are 41 million people in the united states facing hunger. The state of Connecticut, where we are located is one of the 10 wealthiest states in the nation, and still there are more than half a million people here without enough food to eat each day. Hunger impacts people of all races and ethnicities, and hits people who are Black, Latinx and Indigenous at much higher rates than white people. The injustice of hunger is built into the laws and practices that keep certain communities segregated and living in poverty, and our guests today will not stand for it any longer. Wanda Perez, Junie Cullum, and Susan Harris are members of the New Haven chapter of Witnesses to Hunger, a group of people with lived experience of hunger and poverty who are advocating at the state and federal levels for food security.
There is a painful stigma that exists around hunger and poverty, and powerful myths that are perpetuated about people mooching off the system and using government assistance programs to avoid working. These women, and other members of Witnesses to Hunger tell their personal stories to break apart the stigma and myths and make the realities of living with hunger seen and understood in hopes of making lasting change.
Check out their website to and facebook page to see a lot more about their work including:
The Hungry for Change Advocacy Day at the CT Capitol
The I Need Food page on the City of New Haven Website &
The New Haven Food Assistance Resource Guide created with the City of New Haven, CT Food Bank, CARE, The New Haven Food Policy Council and many community partners.
Witness to Hunger Kim Hart’s photos of what hunger looks like in her life. These photos and others like them were the starting point for Witnesses to Hunger. The New Haven chapter has been organizing and advocating for changes to local, state and federal policies using the inside knowledge of people who actually experience hunger and use food pantries and soup kitchens to guide that change.
Wanda Perez and Susan Harris presenting at the Hunger for Change conference in October 2019 - with the CT Food Bank, Food Share, and CT Attorney General William Tong to raise awareness of the impacts of proposed SNAP changes by the Trump administration.
