Voices of Hunger WV

Invitation to an international on-line briefing entitled: Rights, not Charity: A Human Rights Perspective on Corporate-backed Charitable Food Aid.



We are witnessing the rise of a permanent state of food emergency around the world, one that is being addressed through the false promise of solidarity through corporatized food charity. This briefing will illustrate the impact of the normalization of charity as a symptom of the corporate capture of global governance. We will discuss the need and opportunity for those on the front lines to come together to collectively build strategies that address food insecurity at its roots in international fora, in our own countries’ governments, and within our own local communities.



Date: October 4th, 9:00AM - 11:00AM EST.

Facilitated by: Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

Brief presented by: Kayleigh Garthwaite, University of Birmingham and Alison Cohen, National Right to Food Community of Practice

Inputs shared by:

Graham Riches, author of Food Bank Nations

Dee Woods, IFAN (Independent Food Aid Network) and the Landworkers Alliance UK/LVC

Josh Lohnes, West Virginia University WVU Center for Resilient Communities

Sefu Sanni from the World March of Women, Kenya

Ahmad Marthin Hadiwinata, FIAN Indonesia

Link to register: https://wvu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rcOupqzkqGtw_kAT8SipZdqbpHad0auxf

Co-hosted by the Global Solidarity Alliance for Food, Health and Social Justice and the Global Network on the Right to Food and Nutrition.

Translation will be provided to English, Spanish and French.

HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to our benefit concert with Firsthand Cooperative at 123 Pleasants Street! It was a great environment of music, coffee, and conversations around cooperatives and where the right to food movement is. Check out FirstHand to see how you can help to support Voices of Hunger WV!

CALLING ALL LOVERS OF MUSIC, COFFEE, AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD!!! On Monday, April 24th, from 6pm-9pm, Voices of Hunger and Firsthand Cooperative will be hosting a benefit concert at 123 Pleasant Street! Come by for some cool music, delicious coffee, and community engagement. We hope to see all of you there!

Accessing food should never mean forfeiting one's dignity, but people in West Virginia do it every day to make sure their kids have full bellies when they go to bed. Learn more about what the right to food could mean for families and to read Shanna's full story.

Two on our circle of leaders, Dr. Joshua Lohnes and Liz Brunello, had the incredible opportunity to attend the Symposium on Food, Racial Justice, and Housing in Miami, Florida. A huge thank you to the University of Miami School of Law for hosting conversation around food access and the housing crisis locally, regionally, and beyond.

Fellows like Kimberly make the Voices of Hunger WV initiative possible through lived experience and special insights to the issues around hunger in West Virginia.

Hunger is more than the sensation of being hungry. Learn more about what hunger means for the people of West Virginia at https://voicesofhungerwv.com

Our

How has the pandemic impacted you and your family? Share your story at https://voicesofhunger.com.

The emergency is still here: people need the right to food

REGISTRATION FOR THE 2023 APPALACHIAN FOOD JUSTICE INSTITUTE IS LIVE: https://resilientcommunities.wvu.edu/get-involved/afji

We invite food system development practitioners, nutrition security folks , food policy wonks and anyone else interested in advancing the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty in Appalachia to join. The first 4 days will be in person at the WVU Center for Resilient Communities in Morgantown, WV. Friday 26th will be a series of panels to which we invite virtual participation.

We will begin reviewing applicants the week of April 10th, deadline is April 15th.

AFJI is now in its fifth year. The institute prepares food system leaders to meaningfully engage in local and regional food system development bringing lessons from social movements advancing food sovereignty and the right to food across the world to the critical community food security work currently underway in the Appalachian context. Over the course of a week of interactive pedagogy, participants develop leadership and planning skills while learning about the political economy of the food system, historical injustices associated with it, the instrumental role of food policy in reinforcing or addressing those, the relationships between food production and food consumption, nutrition assistance and food insecurity, the difference between profit driven and cooperative food systems and the impacts of climate change on food system futures.

There will be a nominal $50 registration fee to cover course materials and food. We hope that folks engaged in food system work in various organizations across the region will want to participate, build connections with one another as we work toward honing a common vision and purpose in our collective food, farm, anti-hunger and nutrition security work.

Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions

It's time to face the facts: food is a human right. Learn more about food insecurity in West Virginia on our website: https://voicesofhungerwv.com. Source: Hunger Free WV (https://www.hungerfreewv.org)

Stories like Heather's exemplify why the right to food must be recognized in West Virginia. Real people, with real lived experience and real life circumstance, deserve to have their rights fulfilled. Read Heather's story on our website, https://voicesofhungerwv.com , and find out how you can share your story, too.

Danielle Walker for House said it right. Share your story today and tell folks what the right to food means to you.

As more and more young people leave the state of West Virginia, those who remain should not go to bed hungry.

It can't be made any clearer. Urge your representatives in office to recognize your RIGHT to food

No one should have to worry about how they're going to feed their family. Stop SNAP reductions now.

We had to shout out our on this Wednesday spotlight: Liz Brunello! Swipe to get to know Liz and why she works so diligently to fight hunger in West Virginia. You can learn more about Liz and Voices of Hunger WV by visiting our website, too!

What do you think is the definition of the right to food? Visit https://voicesofhungerwv.com to share with us how you define the right to food and what the right to food means to you.

It's stories like these that remind us how essential food sovereignty and the right to food is for folks who experience hunger. Visit our website to read more stories like these.

Happy International Women's Day! Today we celebrate the women leading the charge in the fight for food sovereignty and the right to food in the past and present, in WV and beyond. Check out some of these awesome women who have influenced the movement!

Hunger is more than you might think. People all over the state know this feeling, but the real experience often goes unheard. Visit our website and read more about the lived experience of hunger.

Real stories. Real people. Real Hunger. It'a stories like these that show us how important the right to food and food sovereignty could be for the people of West Virginia. Visit our website to learn more about stories like that of this anonymous student storyteller, and how hunger has impacted their entire life.

Our new website, https://voicesofhungerwv.com, is now LIVE! Please visit the site to explore information on food insecurity and the right to food, to contact us and share your experience with hunger, and to read testimony of hunger in West Virginia. We are so excited to hear from you!

Yesterday, Voices of Hunger WV went down to the state capitol in Charleston alongside Hunger Free WV and the Food for All Coalition for Hunger Free West Virginia Day. Check out some commentary from the lovely Liz Brunello and some WV legislators on yesterdays events: https://wvpublic.org/advocates-bring-hunger-issues-to-w-va-legislature-as-senate-committee-advances-summer-feeding-program/ #

Advocates Bring Hunger Issues To W.Va. Legislature As Senate Committee Advances Summer Feeding Program - West Virginia Public Broadcasting According to food bank network Feeding America, one in eight people in West Virginia face hunger every day. Advocates brought the issue to the Capitol Thursday during the legislature’s Hunger Free Day.

Check out this article on gaps in food access in West Virginia:

The delicate, difficult fight to get healthy food in rural WV In rural West Virginia, limited access to food has contributed to high rates of chronic diseases. Lawmakers have done little to address the issue.

On January 26th Voices of Hunger WV is teaming up with Hunger Free WV at the Capitol to elevate and educate our legislators on the root causes of hunger and food insecurity in our communities. We'd love for you to join us. If you'd like to get involved, use the link on the flyer to fill out a brief survey. We will be in touch with more details! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyoeEf3io7U5vf6wIepkkoTWe4xtR1XxycPl8QTckXVKcsXA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Application deadline extended to June 10th! Consider applying or spreading the word.

We are recruiting a cohort of community based organizers to advance the Right to Food in West Virginia. We are hoping to fund 6-7 leaders with a $500 stipend. We will come together to learn about this emerging movement, to grow our capacities to organize with one another and to effectively communicate the lived realities that our neighbors are experiencing everyday in the struggle to access healthy, nutritious foods. Application deadline is June 1st, 2022.

Apply via this google form! https://forms.gle/ADxxUXCASk8AUGqU8

We are recruiting a cohort of community based organizers to advance the Right to Food in West Virginia. We are hoping to fund 6-7 leaders with a $500 stipend. We will come together to learn about this emerging movement, to grow our capacities to organize with one another and to effectively communicate the lived realities that our neighbors are experiencing everyday in the struggle to access healthy, nutritious foods. Application deadline is June 1st, 2022.

Apply via this google form! https://forms.gle/ADxxUXCASk8AUGqU8

Join us on April 22nd for our first Right to Food Day! See the flyer below for details, hope to see you there!