HealthSpark Foundation and MontCo Anti-Hunger Network host 2nd annual countywide emergency food conference
On May 20, 2016, close to 90 representatives from food pantries, soup kitchens, gleaning organizations, farms, hunger advocates and funders attended the 2nd annual Montgomery County Emergency Food System Conference. HealthSpark Foundation and the MontCo Anti-Hunger Network (MAHN) co-hosted the conference.
Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, vice chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners introduced the keynote speaker, author and Hunter College sociologist Janet Poppendieck, PhD. Dr. Poppendieck traced the evolution of emergency food since the 1960s - from government anti-poverty programs and the creation of food banks in the 1960s, to the emergence of food pantries in the 1980s and the institutionalization of emergency food throughout the 1990s until today. All attendees received a copy of Dr. Poppendieck's book Sweet Charity? Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement.
Dr. Poppendieck also challenged attendees to think about policies that impact those in our community who do not have enough food.
Philabundance executive director Glenn Bergman discussed the future of Philabundance under his leadership. A signing ceremony was held between Philabundance and Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities (PCRC) to launch the county's first Redistribution Distribution Organization (RDO). As an RDO, the PCRC can now redistribute surplus food it receives from Philabundance to pantries in and around the Pottstown area. This was in important accomplishment for the MAHN, which has been working since 2014 to develop a more equitable distribution system within the county's food pantry network.
In the afternoon, attendees broke out into small groups for a facilitated discussion to reflect on Dr. Poppendieck's message and begin to envision the future of a more equitable emergency food system for Montgomery County. A graphic illustrator captured Dr. Poppendieck's presentation and the outcomes of the afternoon discussions.