Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

Advocacy

The Food Bank strives every day to help feed as many people in need as possible. But it is also important to make larger changes that will eventually help to end hunger in our community, and in our nation.

Please help us advocate for public policy change on the federal, state and local levels. The easiest way to do that is by signing up at www.hungeractioncenter.org. (external link) You will receive updates on current advocacy activities and be given the opportunity to contact your state and federal legislators to make your voice heard. You can also join the Food Bank's email list (external link)to receive our monthly e-newsletter.

Please download this document to learn more about Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Feeding America's current federal priorities.

Why?

Children in food insecure households are approximately twice as likely to suffer poor health and one third more likely to be hospitalized. Seniors who don't have access to adequate nutrition develop more illnesses needing more medical attention and hospital stays. Families in poverty and hunger are unable to make the kind of productive contributions our society needs to flourish and face our future. Aside from just doing the right thing, we all have a critical stake in seeing that our neighbors have enough to eat.

Established government nutrition programs such as Food Stamps, WIC, school breakfast and lunch and the like can do more to alleviate hunger on a wider scale than any amount of food gathering and distributing by any one Food Bank. There is ample evidence that these programs work, and that by providing food, they also improve the lives and futures of our children, our communities, and the strength of our country.

Hunger and food insecurity exists in every county in the U.S. How do we know? Feeding America recently published Map the Meal Gap, a new project showing the impact of food insecurity at the county and Congressional district levels all across America. Find out more information about food insecurity and child food insecurity in your county or district.

Click here for the latest advocacy updates.

Hunger Profiles by County

The Food Bank developed this set of documents to provide information on the operation and impact of government anti-hunger programs in the counties we serve: