Become an advocate!

In 2020, one in 12 Cumberland County residents faced barriers to accessing nourishing food. As a result, the quantity and quality of meals within a household are noticeably disrupted or reduced. Across Cumberland County, about 20,020 neighbors were considered food insecure in 2020. Multiple factors impact a household’s food security level including economic status (e.g. job loss, sudden medical expenses, etc.), transportation (e.g. lack of reliable transportation, costly gas/public transit fares, etc.), and accessibility (local sources of food, culturally relevant food options, food pantry hours, etc).

Help your community by breaking down barriers! Explore the links below to learn more.

Advocacy Organizations

• Cumberland County Farmland Preservation
• Food Research & Action Center
• Pennsylvania Food Policy Council
• Pennsylvania Hunger Action Coalition
• School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania

Advocacy Tools

• Leveraging SNAP to Improve Public Health: A Toolkit for Advocates
• Restaurant Kids’ Meals: A Toolkit to Improve Options

Additional Resources

“The fact that we have such pervasive food insecurity is not because we don’t have enough food. We lack justice and equity within our food system, we lack the courage or patience to tackle the root causes of poverty, and we lack the political will to ensure living wages and a strong social safety net. We can do better.”
– Advocate and author Katie Martin, page 4 of her book Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries: New Tools to End Hunger