The 12th annual Dallas Hunger Summit, “Demystifying SNAP & Changing the Conversation,” held virtually on October 19th, had participants from around Texas, the U.S. and abroad!

The Urban Agriculture Action Team of the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions held a fifth annual workshop in its SEEDING Dallas urban garden learning series in August 2023.

Once again, the Senior Hunger Action Team of the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions came together to organize a Senior Hunger Summit during Older Americans Month in May. In the second year of what is becoming an annual occurrence, twice as many seniors participated with over 200 attendees! The event, “Alive & Kicking!”, brought stakeholders together with older adults to hear directly from older adults about their experiences with food access and food security, share resources and information to help them thrive, and provide them with socialization and enrichment.

The Urban Agriculture Action Team of the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions, The Giving Grove and GROW North Texas recently hosted a community orchard information session and tour to develop site partners for community fruit orchards in and around Dallas.

GROW North Texas is a non-profit that works to connect North Texans to food, farms, and community in order to create a sustainable, secure regional food system that enriches the land, encourages economic opportunity through food and agriculture, and provides equitable access to healthy, nutritious food for all residents.

The Giving Grove is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide healthy calories, strengthen community, and improve the urban environment through a nationwide network of sustainable little orchards.

Together, they are supporting neighborhood volunteers in planting and caring for fruit trees, nut trees, and berry brambles at existing community gardens, communities of faith, schools and other properties where produce can be shared with the community.

During the information session, attendees received an overview of the program, heard from new site partners preparing for fall planting and toured The Giving Grove demonstration orchard at Owenwood Farm in east Dallas.

If your organization is interested in learning more about this community orchard program and the opportunity to become a site partner, contact Geri Strong.

Written and contributed to the blog by Wyonella Henderson-Greene, Coalition Specialist.

The Senior Hunger Action Team of the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions Dallas collaborated to launch the Inaugural Senior Hunger Summit during Older Americans Month in May. The event brought stakeholders and older adults together to hear directly from older adults about their experiences with food access and food security, share resources and information to help them thrive, and provide them with socialization and enrichment.

Hosted by The Senior Source, the summit’s theme was “Alive & Kicking!” or how to live your best life after age 60. Physician Donald Wesson MD, MBA, kidney health researcher and Dallas area resident, kicked off the program with tips for healthy aging. His advice? A relationship with a health care provider, healthy eating, healthy moving and social connectivity. Audience members added rest and a positive outlook.

The program continued with a panel of service providers addressing the topic, “What we do, how we can help you and how to connect with us”. Attendees heard about transportation, mental health, financial, and legal resources available to help them remain independent. They also learned about the City of Dallas Senior Affairs Commission, older adults appointed from each City Council District to advocate for their peers.

Information about healthy eating on a frugal budget, saving money at the grocery store and resources to supplement the food budget followed during a demonstration of “Eating Well is a SNAP!”

A community resource fair provided an opportunity vendors with programs and services for older adults to interact with participants and answer individual questions. Entertainment performed by members of local senior centers, lunch, door prizes and Bingo rounded out the day with fun and liveliness.

Feedback from attendees of the first Senior Hunger Summit was overwhelmingly favorable. Partner organizations and donors are planning to make it an annual event.

Written and contributed to the blog by Wyonella Henderson-Greene, Coalition Specialist.

10th Dallas Hunger Summit Calls for a Holistic Approach to Ending Hunger

The Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions held its annual education and advocacy conference during Hunger Action Month in September. In its 10th year of informing the public and concerned leaders about the problem of food insecurity and hunger, the focus of the 2021 Dallas Hunger Summit was on ending hunger through a holistic approach. Speakers, panelists and attendees examined how to solve the problem through the lens of our “Top 10 Hunger Solutions”.

Coalition Chair, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, kicked off the series of three consecutive weekly webinars, the first one featuring a diverse array of strategists and advocates from multiple community sectors. Community leaders in technology, higher education, business, health, faith, nonprofit relief and government discussed going forward together to improve food security. They shared insights gained and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. You can view a video recording here.

The second week’s webinar presented co-authors of the book, Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding and Ending U. S. Poverty, in conversation about ending poverty to end hunger. These speakers argued that public policies create barriers keeping many of our neighbors trapped in circumstances of poverty when there are concrete steps that can be taken to end poverty for good. Click here for the video recording.

The final webinar highlighted local innovators and practitioners who are applying ethical, equitable and effective solutions for food insecurity, food deserts and food waste around Dallas. Watch the video recording here to learn about the impact they are having in their communities.

Ten years later, work remains to be done in reducing hunger and improving access to healthy food for everyone. The solutions have to include more than just giving hungry people food. As with all complex problems, it is necessary to consider multiple approaches for creating solutions. We’ve learned that we have to work collectively from a holistic point of view. Community leaders must come together to work on innovative steps to improve food security in an all-inclusive way.

You can find recordings of all the webinars from this year’s ending hunger series on YouTube at Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions. The 10th Dallas Hunger Summit is a wrap, but the struggle continues!

This article was written and contributed to the blog by Wyonella Henderson-Greene, Coalition Specialist, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty

10th Dallas Hunger Summit Calls for a Holistic Approach to Ending Hunger

The Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions held its annual education and advocacy conference during Hunger Action Month in September. In its 10th year of informing the public and concerned leaders about the problem of food insecurity and hunger, the focus of the 2021 Dallas Hunger Summit was on ending hunger through a holistic approach. Speakers, panelists and attendees examined how to solve the problem through the lens of our “Top 10 Hunger Solutions”.

Coalition Chair, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, kicked off the series of three consecutive weekly webinars, the first one featuring a diverse array of strategists and advocates from multiple community sectors. Community leaders in technology, higher education, business, health, faith, nonprofit relief and government discussed going forward together to improve food security. They shared insights gained and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. You can view a video recording here.

The second week’s webinar presented co-authors of the book, Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding and Ending U. S. Poverty, in conversation about ending poverty to end hunger. These speakers argued that public policies create barriers keeping many of our neighbors trapped in circumstances of poverty when there are concrete steps that can be taken to end poverty for good. Click here for the video recording.

The final webinar highlighted local innovators and practitioners who are applying ethical, equitable and effective solutions for food insecurity, food deserts and food waste around Dallas. Watch the video recording here to learn about the impact they are having in their communities.

Ten years later, work remains to be done in reducing hunger and improving access to healthy food for everyone. The solutions have to include more than just giving hungry people food. As with all complex problems, it is necessary to consider multiple approaches for creating solutions. We’ve learned that we have to work collectively from a holistic point of view. Community leaders must come together to work on innovative steps to improve food security in an all-inclusive way.

You can find recordings of all the webinars from this year’s ending hunger series on YouTube at Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions. The 10th Dallas Hunger Summit is a wrap, but the struggle continues!

This article was written and contributed to the blog by Wyonella Henderson-Greene, Coalition Specialist, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty