SNEB Hot Topics call with Any Fisher - author of Big Hunger

Recorded on 12/13/2017

Sponsored by the Sustainable Food Systems Division

Speaker: Andy Fisher, author of Big Hunger

Originally designed as a temporary stop gap measure during hard times, food banks have become normalized and institutionalized elements of the social safety net. After 35+ years of food banking we continue to see persistent food insecurity and growing income inequality. This raises the question of what we should do differently and who benefits from the emergency food system.  Andy Fisher will share his perspective as detailed in his recently published book Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance between Corporate America and Anti-hunger Groups.  Fisher will explore the power imbalance between giver and recipient, corporation and non-profit, within food charity as well as federal food programs. Examples of innovative approaches that are being implemented and models outside of the anti-hunger movement that can be translated to anti-hunger groups work will be shared to inspire the audience to take next steps in creating an equitable and sustainable food system.

Learning Objectives
Following the presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Identify factors contributing to food insecurity;
2. List 1 model or approach that has been demonstrated to address the problem of food insecurity;
3. Identify one way in which federal food programs can be modified to promote health and social and economic justice

Andy Fisher is a leading national expert on community food security. He has written extensively on such topics as farm to school, farmers markets in low-income communities, and local food policy.  He co-founded and led the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), a national alliance of groups working on food access and local food, from 1994 to 2011. He created and publicized the concept of community food security, and played a key role in building the food movement. He has played a lead role in gaining passage of numerous pieces of federal legislation, including the Community Food Projects and the Farm to School grant program. He led the development of the nation’s first training and technical assistance program on food systems, focusing on food policy councils, community food assessments, healthy corner stores, coalition building, and farm to cafeteria.  He has taught classes on food systems at Portland State University, Oregon State University, and Marylhurst University. Most recently he served as interim Executive Director at the Portland Fruit Tree Project.

https://www.bighunger.org/