A million Virginians going hungry: Northam unveils Roadmap to End Hunger

More than a million Virginians are going hungry due to economic disruptions from the public response to COVID-19.

Cue government bureaucrats with a solution in the form of a committee by-product under the name of a jargony slogan.

The Virginia Roadmap to End Hunger establishes goals and strategies to prioritize food security during the current public health emergency and beyond.

Hunger is now euphemized as food insecurity. Food insecurity is a fact of life for nearly 1.3 million Virginians, 15.2 percent of the state’s population.

The number has grown by nearly half a million since mid-March, as unemployment has more than doubled, not even accounting for tens of thousands just leaving the labor force entirely for lack of job opportunities.

Against this backdrop, we now have the Virginia Roadmap to End Hunger, which includes goals and strategies to:

• Expand child nutrition programs
• Increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women Infant and Children (WIC) Program
• Increase nutrition support for seniors
• Grow access to local food for schools and families
• Strengthen connections between food access programs and the healthcare sector
• Encourage food and agriculture investments in food deserts and marginalized communities
• Amplify public awareness of hunger in Virginia and support information sharing across public and private sectors
• Support community organizing to combat food insecurity and hunger

“This pandemic has created challenges for the entire food system and added new burdens on thousands of Virginia families,” Gov. Ralph Northam said. “Since the beginning of our Administration, we have prioritized addressing nutrition and food insecurity, and that work has never been more relevant than it is today. The Virginia Roadmap to End Hunger looks beyond our current struggles and outlines a way forward to end hunger in the Commonwealth and ensure equitable access to healthy, affordable food for all Virginians.”

Learn more about the Virginia Roadmap to End Hunger here.