By Kate Scully, Director of Government Affairs

Approximately 40% of all food  produced in the U.S. goes to waste. This while 1 in 5 people in Philadelphia, and 1 in 7 nationally, are experiencing hunger. Hunger is an issue about individual and family resources, about the money they have or don’t have, not about the amount of food available.

I have worked in areas around hunger and poverty for the last 9 years, but I was shocked to learn about just how much food goes to waste. I am new to Philabundance, but it is easy to see how successfully we connect the food that would have been wasted with people who need it. Through our free food sites, distributions to agencies and other programs, Philabundance is able to feed over 90,000 people each week; much of that is perfectly good food that would have gone to waste.

As the new Director of Government Affairs, I am thrilled to work for an organization actively helping feed people today while we work to end hunger forever. I have worked on issues related to hunger and poverty– first with PathWays PA and most recently at the Center for Hunger-Free Communities. I have been lucky to work with great partners and strong advocates all striving to put an end to hunger and poverty. This effort requires groups working together to advocate for food, housing, health care, job training, etc. Poverty does not happen in a vacuum, and to solve any aspect of it – including hunger – we must take a holistic approach.

In my role at Philabundance, it will be my job to bring attention to the issue of hunger in our area by coordinating with partners, meeting with elected officials and working with all of you to raise up the issue of hunger and advocate for ways to combat it.

To stay in touch with me please visit our advocacy page, sign up for our Advocacy Alerts and email me any thoughts, insights, or let me know you are interested in partnering at advocacy@philabundance.org.

I’m looking forward to working together!