Food Security Workgroup Progress and Hunger Month

In August we caught you up to date on what is happening as the Food Security Workgroup took a brief pause to consider what our work looks like as we move to reconvene with the YMCA serving as the convener and facilitator.  A Food Security Thought Group has been meeting regularly over the past few months to create a framework to re-launch the larger community group in the next couple of months. By leveraging the work that has already been completed, the hope is to draft a sustainable structure that allows for continued community collaboration for years to come. Be on the lookout for a community food forum date soon!

In the meantime, September was National Hunger Awareness Month and many of our organizations were working to raise awareness of hunger in Buncombe County and the region and what we are doing to address this critical issue as well as the resources to support this work.  Bruce Ganger, ED of Bounty and Soul wrote weekly opinion pieces during September that were featured in the Black Mountain News and the Asheville Citizen Times. You can find the pieces from Week 1, Week 2, Week 3  and Week 4 here.  And local food writer, Cathy Cleary spoke with many of our partners about the value of collaboration in addressing food security and published Collaboration is key but challenging for organizations fighting food insecurity in the Mountain Xpress.