Hunger Free Vermont

Hunger Free Vermont is a statewide non-profit organization working on sustainable solutions to hunger. As part of our community engagement and education, we have organized and staffed regional Hunger Councils that work on addressing hunger in their communities. The first county-wide Council was organized in 2006 and continues to meet. There are currently Hunger Councils in 4 of the 14 counties in Vermont. The Councils have been very effective at reducing hunger by expanding food and nutrition programs, raising public awareness and changing state and local policies to improve food access. We plan to have Hunger Councils throughout the state of Vermont.

Hunger Free Vermont assists schools in establishing and expanding school breakfast and lunch programs, which provide a reliable source of nutrition for school age children. Only 17% of Vermont’s schools served breakfast in 1993. Today, 97% of Vermont’s schools serve nutritious meals to more than 94,000 students.

Hunger Free Vermont helps community groups provide nutritious meals to low-income children during out-of-school time during the summer months and in afterschool programming. 802 children received summer meals at 18 sites in 1993. Today, 4,700 children access healthy meals and educational activities in 144 sites in Vermont.

Hunger Free Vermont’s Learning Kitchen classes empower low-income Vermonters to make healthy choices through nutrition education, emphasizing the importance of regular physical activity, and improving cooking skills. The Learning Kitchen started in 1999 with just 5 series and 47 participants.   To date there have been hundreds of series serving over 6,000 Vermonters.

Hunger Free Vermont improves access to and participation in 3SquaresVT (formerly the Food Stamp Program) which is one of the most reliable, consistent, and dignified means to prevent hunger. In 2001 there were only 38,558 participants. Today there are over 93,000 participants in Vermont.

Because good nutrition is especially crucial while a young child’s brain is developing, Hunger Free Vermont is helping child care providers access the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This program provides child care centers, home-based child care, and afterschool programs with nutrition education and reimbursements. In 2003, 2,232 children received nutritious meals through CACFP. Today, participation has increased 62%–over 3,600 children now benefit from CACFP.