Moving Beyond Hunger: Creating a Resilient & Equitable Food System
In June 2022, Wake County Cooperative Extension began the process of updating the 2018 Wake County Comprehensive Food Security Plan. The desire among partners and community leaders was to identify key leverage points for investment that would improve the quality and quantity of food available to food insecure clients across the county.
The intention is to strengthen our food system through redundancy and increase the connections between our emergency and local food system partners and networks. The strategies outlined in this plan transition our current food security model from food charity to food resilience.
The 2023 updates are the result of an equity-based steering committee, partner-organization workgroups, and research-based analysis of similar models. The steering committee was composed of community members with lived experience of poverty and/or strong advocacy roles in their community, as well as practitioners actively working in food system roles.
In 2015, the Wake County Board of Commissioners, with guidance from the Wake County Food Security Working Group, funded the creation of a food security plan to outline recommendations on policy, partnerships, and activities to establish a pathway to comprehensive food security in Wake County. Since its adoption in 2017, the Plan has been integrated into the Capital Area Food Network's Food Access Circle as well as local municipalities.
Other Helpful Food Security Resources to Share
June is National Hunger Awareness Month
Hunger Awareness Month is a global acknowledgement that hunger is prevalent in our communities. Wake County Food Security and partners collaborate in efforts to reduce hunger and educate our community throughout the month of June each year!