Resources

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Millions of individuals and families rely on food banks every year to help bridge the gap when food is scarce. Whether you're looking for assistance, want to donate, or are interested in volunteering, connecting with your local food bank is one of the most direct ways to make an impact in your community. If you or someone you know needs food, or if you want to support hunger relief efforts near you, use these resources to find a food bank in your area:

https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Feeding America’s Food Bank Locator
https://ampleharvest.org/find-food/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">AmpleHarvest.org Food Pantry

Various organizations provide impactful and insightful information regarding food waste.

The FDA’s Tips to Reduce Food Waste offer practical advice for planning meals, storing food properly, and understanding date labels. Similarly, the USDA’s Food Waste FAQs answer common questions about what causes food loss, what can be done, and how government programs support waste reduction efforts. 

For a deeper dive, UC Davis offers research that reveals how food is lost not just at home or in grocery stores, but throughout the entire supply chain. RTS also provides statistics on food waste in the U.S.

Food insecurity affects millions of people across the U.S., often forcing families to make tough choices between groceries, rent, and medical care. 

It’s more than a personal struggle—it’s a public health issue. Feeding America explains how food insecurity delves into the causes and effects on health of food insecurity.

In fact, the U.S. government recognizes food insecurity as a key social determinant of health, meaning it’s deeply tied to overall well-being.

If you want to understand the lived impact then hear directly from people facing hunger in these personal stories.

And if you think food insecurity is just about not budgeting well or only affects the unemployed, think again. Many common myths around hunger miss the bigger picture.

Fruits and vegetables are more than just colorful additions to your plate—they’re essential to a healthy diet. Packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, they support everything from heart health to brain function and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers. 

The MyPlate guide from the USDA breaks down the benefits of different fruits and vegetables, how much you should aim to eat, and easy ways to incorporate them into every meal.

And if you need scientific backup, a comprehensive study published in the National Institute of Health confirms that regular fruit and vegetable intake is strongly linked to better overall health and longer life expectancy.

Hunger and food waste are deeply connected to public policy. Federal nutrition programs and food recovery efforts are shaped by legislation that determines how food is grown, distributed, accessed, and supported across the country

One of the most influential pieces of legislation is the Farm Bill, a multi-year law that governs everything from agriculture and conservation to nutrition programs like SNAP and food banks. It’s a critical tool in the fight against hunger and food waste, and it's updated roughly every five years.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is another important program. It helps millions of low-income families put food on the table and is proven to reduce poverty and improve health outcomes. 

Another vital program is The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides USDA foods to food banks and local agencies that serve people in need. TEFAP supports both hunger relief and local agriculture by purchasing surplus crops from U.S. farmers.

Food insecurity and food waste continue to make headlines across the U.S., revealing both progress and ongoing challenges in our food system. California became the first state to offer free meals to all public school students, regardless of income. This policy aims to reduce child hunger, support learning, and eliminate stigma around school meal programs.

As pandemic-era support ends, millions of Americans are facing reduced food assistance. This WBUR segment explores how cuts to SNAP benefits are already impacting families, food banks, and grocery budgets nationwide. NPR reports that the loss of emergency allotments has led to a spike in food insecurity, especially among seniors and low-income households.

Despite its affluence, the Bay Area is home to many who struggle with food access. The San Francisco Chronicle’s 'Hidden Hunger' series investigates how poverty, high housing costs, and stigma keep food insecurity hidden in plain sight.

If you're wondering how widespread the problem is, NPR breaks it down, showing how food insecurity surged during the pandemic and why some of those gains in food access may now be slipping away.