Episode 144: Using Food as Power
About the Podcast
In this 9-minute “Candid Clancy” episode, Clancy shares her thought on how the food banking, agricultural and food policy realms affect how food is used as power. There are often winners and losers of policies and rules laid out by larger food distributers, and they influence the stability of the anti-hunger sector as we see it.
About Clancy Harrison
As a registered dietitian, TEDx speaker, international speaker, and author, Clancy Harrison challenges the way food insecurity is approached in the US. Her mission to demolish the stigma around healthy food access places her on the cutting edge of advocacy.
Clancy is the founder of the Food Dignity® Project, a strategic program for leaders who want to shift how they approach nutrition outreach by making healthy food access a priority. She transforms the lives of thousands of people through her work with corporations, non-profit organizations, and universities.
Currently, Clancy is an advisory board member for the Pennsylvania American Academy of Pediatrics Food Insecurity EPIC program, Ambassador of the National Dairy Council, and the President of the Al Beech West Side Food Pantry. Since the onset of COVID-19 Clancy has distributed nearly 1 million meals in her community to improve access to healthy food through effective collaborations.
Discussion Takeaways
- Food is being used as power over food pantries, serving free food directly to people who need it.
- We’re all in a situation where we can improve, grow and learn, and empower other people. That’s why Clancy speaks honestly and directly about issues within the anti-hunger movement.
- Food pantries and the people they’re serving are afraid to ask for change because they’re worried that they won’t get funding, receive the food they need, be heard, and more. That is a sign that a food bank and other larger players in the charitable food system are using food as power. All food bank partners should have the ability to have open, honest communication with their partners without the fear of losing their services.
- Too many times the same organizations are being funded from government, corporate partnerships, and other philanthropic organizations. And, if we’re being honest, food banks are utilizing the food distribution numbers of the mostly volunteer-run food pantries to prove their worth and gain more funding for themselves.
#1 tip to improve access to healthy food
- It doesn’t take just one organization to end hunger. It takes all of us to end hunger. We all have a piece of the puzzle to play.
Each week on the Food Dignity® Podcast, the Food Dignity® Movement's Clancy Harrison hosts a wide variety of hunger experts and other people making changes on the frontlines. Join us as we dive deep into conversations that will change the way you think about food insecurity.
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