In these difficult times, hunger looms larger than ever.  The following organizations are just a few of those working to meet the need.  You can find others in your area by searching with phrases like "hunger [your zip code]," or food pantry (or bank) {your zip code]"

Donations are accepted by any and all of these groups. 

Locally -- For the greater Washington, DC area, the Capital Area Food Bank --.  https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/

Nationally -- Feeding America -- https://www.feedingamerica.org/

Globally -- Bread for the World -- https://bread.org/

"We can’t have food waste at the moment. With people panic buying shops are empty and we know that food is being wasted. It just shouldn’t be happening,” says Neil Whitcombe, trading executive, FruPro.  Quoted in an article from FruitNet.com (see links below)..

In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, many of us are buying cartfulls of food.  Here are some recent articles and postings about avoiding food waste during the outbreak -- ways to minimize throwing away the food we've purchased.  

We'll post more hunger- and food security-related articles as they appear in COVID-19 news coverage. 

An article from Esquire magazine -- https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/a31903074/quarantine-food-waste-jacques-pepin-david-chang/

A posting by Waste 360 -- https://www.waste360.com/food-waste/fighting-hunger-food-waste-amid-covid-19

An article on the FruitNet.com site -- http://www.fruitnet.com/fpj/article/181220/covid-19-platform-launched-to-fight-food-waste

The spread of Coronavirus in the U.S. has brought some challenges that communities across the country have not been prepared for. Many children in need who rely on school meals, for example, do not have access to these meals while schools are closed. Small food and farm businesses that rely on their client base are now forced to close their doors and even let their workers go. Older community members who might be more vulnerable to the virus due to their health conditions may experience difficulties in getting food supplies. These are just some examples and there are many more challenges that communities might be facing going forward.

Luckily, even while socially distancing ourselves, we can support each other. You can try your skills in painting, writing poetry or prose. We encourage you to submit your work here!
You can also help in your community by offering help in local online forums to buy groceries for those who can't and you can keep supporting local food and farm businesses.
You can also donate to those in need. NO KID HUNGRY is an organization that fights child hunger in America. 

Stay safe!

Check out an interesting piece by Stephanie Mercier in the Farm Journal AgWeb about the potential impacts of the novel coronavirus outbreak on U.S. agriculture:
https://www.agweb.com/blog/potential-impact-novel-coronavirus-us-agriculture

Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD) has cancelled the 56th Annual Conference on Food Safety due to COVID-19 concerns. Everyone's safety is a priority now. Stay tuned for virtual events: www.aiard.org 

Dr. Hiram Larew along with Aaron R, winner of the 2018 World Food Poetry Day competition, will participate in the 2020 Summit Universities Fighting World Hunger: 
http://dhn.ca.uky.edu/summit2020
The session Seeing What’s Wildly Possible Session 1 – Policy & Poetry: Hunger Advocacy through the Arts will be held on March 19th. 
From the description of this session:
Poetry X Hunger recently implemented the 2018 World Food Day Poetry Competition which was sponsored by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.The winner of that competition, AaronR, will perform his work and provide tips for including poets and poetry in anti-hunger efforts. Participants will learn how to facilitate the writing and use of poems that "look into a bare cupboard." This session will inspire and inform everyone to speak out about hunger with a confident, engaging, and authentic message.

Alarms are sounding.  Famine seems eminent in Zimbabwe as the new decade opens.  More than half of the country's population are already food insecure.  Yes, hunger's claws are as sharp as ever.  

Poets may want to respond.  

Here's an article about the situation -

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-20/worst-ever-famine-threatens-zimbabwe-as-economy-collapses

Frederick's Food Security Network now publishes poems related to hunger in their newsletter! Here is a poem by one of the Maryland poets, Forestine Bynum, that appeared here, on PoetryXHunger.

We thank the FFSN for highlighting Forestine's poem! You can find more information about the Network HERE.

Here's a recent article about a new food bank at Bowie State University.  It provides one more indication of hunger among students on campuses.  Thanks to poet, Jesse Alexander, for sharing the link.  

https://wjla.com/news/local/bowie-state-university-food-pantry?fbclid=IwAR2Ck9rl-8ZXvkEaSR9TE2pNguLYC4-tAPQcaYnQ5H9hoRKqYE8iolO2Szk

Here is a link to an interview with Hillary Dodge, the author of the book  Gather ‘Round the Table: Food Literacy Programs, Resources, and Ideas for Libraries, in ALA Store, (American Library Association), in which she talks about her views on the importance of integrating food literacy in educational programs, using various resources in libraries and ideas for conducting community food assessments: 
https://www.alastore.ala.org/foodliteracyinterview?_zs=VD1Ci1&_zl=ruMW6