Ending hunger in Philadelphia requires cooperation

More than 34 million people in this country, and over 550,000 people in the Philadelphia region, struggle to put food on their table. It is an unconscionable problem — but one that is solvable. After I attended the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health last month, I left encouraged that we can make progress on ending hunger if we all work together.

We at Philabundance sometimes get pushback when we state our vision: ending hunger for good. Skeptics question if it’s truly possible or realistic. I understand why, especially as hunger has become more present as we have seen longer lines of people in need of emergency food assistance. But in this country we have enough food to feed everyone. What we need is the will to ensure everyone has access to that food.

Despite pushback, ending hunger for good is a goal that we share with President Biden and his administration, as well as hundreds of organizations addressing food insecurity and health across the country.

It is also a goal we hear directly from the communities we serve. Over the summer, Philabundance conducted focus groups and interviews with people experiencing hunger in the Philadelphia region. We heard time and again that our neighbors are making impossible choices between paying for food, rent, medicines, or other basic needs. Sadly, things are not getting easier. At Philabundance, we are working hard to meet the growing need of our community as we still contend with a global health pandemic and face increasing costs for food and fuel.

We continue to add capacity and more services so that we can serve more Philadelphians. But we all need to do more.

People are making impossible choices between paying for food, rent, medicines, or other basic needs.

» READ MORE: To end hunger, we have to play the long game

Our nation is divided and polarized, but we should all be able to agree on this: No one in this country should go hungry. And we must use our vast resources as a nation — bringing together government, for profit, and non-profit leaders — to increase access to the foods that people want and need.

The day after the conference, non-profit and government leaders from Pennsylvania came together to discuss how communities, with critical support, can create opportunities and improve people’s everyday lives. Solving hunger does not happen with a single solution. It is a monumental task, but one that we are working towards every day.

While the strategy outlined by the Biden administration to end hunger by 2030 are just words on paper, I believe that it provides a roadmap for the nation to better support people and provide them the resources they need to lead a healthy and active life.

I am encouraged by this plan, and I know that Philabundance, and hopefully all Philadelphians, will continue to push not only to feed people today, but also to end hunger for good.

Loree D. Jones Brown is the CEO of Philabundance.