March Madness at Hunger Free Vermont!

Thank you!  March Nutrition Month® has come to a close and thank you to all of our guest bloggers and those who commented on our posts.  Outside of National Nutrition Month®, there were many exciting goings-on for Hunger Free Vermont in March.  First, Hunger Free Vermont was awarded the Dr. Raymond Wheeler/Senator Paul Wellstone Anti-Hunger Advocacy Leadership Award by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) at the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in Washington, DC.  It was an honor to receive this award from our colleagues at FRAC who we deeply admire and appreciate for all the support they provide to organizations like ours around the country.

Next, we were pleased to work with Dr. Lewis First and his colleagues at the Vermont Children’s Hospital on a special 3SquaresVT Challenge.  For one week, Dr. First and his team lived on a “food stamp budget.”  One in six families in Vermont receives 3SquaresVT benefits and work hard to put nutritious food on the table.  Dr. First shared his experience from the week through his blog: http://fletcherallenblog.wordpress.com/.  We are grateful to this team of medical professionals for bringing attention to the challenges 3SquaresVT recipients face on a daily basis.

On March 18^th, we launched our fifth Hunger Council in the state in Addison County. We had over 70 people attend! We were overwhelmed by the turnout and enthusiasm of Addison County residents for coming together to end hunger in their communities. We cannot thank our Council Co-Chair, Emily Joselson, enough for all the work she did to promote the Council and bring key voices to the table. We look forward to convening with the Council again in June!

We closed the month with some wonderful events!  On March 25^th and 26^th we were pleased to host Free for All, author Janet Poppendieck in Vermont in partnership with UVM, VT FEED, and Shelburne Farms.  Dr. Poppendieck spoke to a policy roundtable of Vermont leaders and at a public lecture at UVM about how by radically changing our current school meal system to a universal model where all children receive free school meals as part of their education, we could drastically impact hunger, obesity, and educational outcomes in our country.  Below is an interview with Dr. Poppendieck and Board Member, Fran Stoddard to learn more about Dr. Poppendieck’s book and research. 

Finally, on March 30^th, over 100 yogis from across Vermont joined Evolution Yoga for Vinyasa for Vermont.  All proceeds from this event supported Hunger Free Vermont’s work.  We happily joined in for some morning yoga and want to continually thank Evolution for their wonderful commitment to our work.

Thank you all for a wonderful month!