Nutrition & Justice

by Marissa Parisi, Executive Director at Hunger Free Vermont

Today is the last day of March Nutrition Month.  I hope you’ve enjoyed our blog posts from staff, board members, volunteers, and interns and thank you to all who contributed.  Hunger Free Vermont and the citizens of our state are lucky to have these committed Vermonters working every day to ensure that no one has to face the consequences of hunger and malnutrition in our state. 

I often remind people that hunger and malnutrition carry as many mental and emotional hardships as they do physical consequences.  Throughout the last month we’ve celebrated food and cooking on this blog, but too many Vermonters feel left on the sidelines of the wonderful social aspects of Vermont’s vibrant food culture.  When you don’t have the resources to purchase enough food for your family, you make things stretch as long as you can.  You might not want to attend your town meeting if you don’t have a dish to contribute to the potluck.  You might not feel you can afford to go to your local farmers’ market and miss out on meeting your local growers.  You might not attend local spaghetti suppers or pancake breakfasts or bake sales.  For me, and I know for all the bloggers this month, we think all aspects of hunger and malnutrition are unjust.

Going forward, let’s use our love for food and our fellow citizens as a motivator to keep up our fight for justice to ensure that all Vermonters experience everything good food has to offer.  Together we can and will end hunger and malnutrition in Vermont.