Arizona Hunger Policy Retreat Registration is Open
Are you interested in working to alleviate hunger in Arizona? Your voice matters!
If you have experience or interest in working with hunger advocates to strategize about plans and policy for the 2023 legislative session in Arizona, now is the time to make a difference. If you or someone you know has experience with food insecurity in Arizona, your presence is welcome.
All known and interested hunger advocates in Arizona will gather at Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, Arizona on Wednesday, August 17 for a full-day retreat to discuss hunger policy in Arizona. The retreat is free of charge. Accommodations for Tuesday overnight can be made for travelers driving great distances.
Thanks to a 2022 SPARK Grant from the Vitalyst Health Foundation, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) and its Arizona Hunger Policy Workgroup partners are inviting hunger advocates from across the state to discuss how the Arizona Legislature might help to address food insecurity in Arizona.
The Workgroup
The Arizona Hunger Policy Workgroup partners include Bread for the World, World Hunger Ecumenical Arizona Task-Force (WHEAT), Arizona Food Bank Network, Arizona Food Systems Network, Arizona Faith Network and Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA).
The Grant Proposal
The Hunger Policy Workgroup’s winning grant application proposed to explore how hunger policy advocacy might be more effective and ultimately successful if all known and interested hunger advocates in Arizona collaborated on policy initiatives for the 2023 Arizona legislative session.
The Plan
Every effort will be made to ensure all underserved communities in Arizona are represented, paying special attention to indigenous representation and food deserts. Guided by a respected facilitator familiar with the topic and skilled in group dynamics, the participants will collaborate on a plan for hunger policy advocacy for the 2023 legislative session. The tasks required to execute the plan will be shared among the group, and all participants will adopt and promote the plan in their respective networks. Presented with a focused, collaborative plan that is endorsed by every hunger advocacy organization in the state, the Workgroup believes that legislators will be far more likely to consider and adopt the plan, and pass the resulting legislation.
The Workgroup envisions an ongoing commitment by the legislature to address the root causes of hunger in Arizona, be they poverty, job instability, food shortages and waste, poor infrastructure, climate change, nutrition quality, race and gender inequities, etc. The Workgroup seeks to build bridges with policy decision makers through creative partnerships, education on hunger facts and context, and advance messaging for candidates in the 2022 election. The Workgroup anticipates outcomes might be engaging conversation, investment, informed policy, and convening a Hunger and/or Basic Needs Caucus – a committee that hasn’t been active in the Arizona legislature since 2003.