Wisconsin Food Security Initiative Combats Hunger Statewide

In partnership with: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

When the COVID-19  pandemic reached Wisconsin in early 2020, many people struggled with unemployment. In communities across the state, lines at food banks began to grow at an alarming rate as families struggled to keep food on the table. That’s why, in May 2020, Gov. Tony Evers launched Wisconsin Food Security Initiative to help alleviate hunger statewide. 

Helping the Hungry

A portion of the funding is helping food banks, pantries and other nonprofit organizations that fight food insecurity adjust to the infrastructure challenges caused by the public health crisis. 

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the critical intersection between agricultural production, the food supply chain and consumers became very clear,” says Randy Romanski, Secretary-designee for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. “The governor quickly recognized our state’s food supply chain workers as essential at the onset of the pandemic, and those people never stopped working to produce food for consumers.”

Gov. Evers also directed a significant portion of the federal funding provided to Wisconsin through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help get the state’s food products off the farm and into the hands of hungry people. In all, $25 million of the state’s CARES Act funding was invested in the Wisconsin Food Security Initiative, distributed in three rounds over summer and fall 2020. 

“In the third round, funding was distributed equally across two of Wisconsin’s largest hunger relief organizations – Hunger Task Force and Feeding Wisconsin – who utilized the funds to purchase a variety of Wisconsin-grown products for families in need,” Romanski says.

See more: Fresh Food Connect Is Helping Gardeners Reduce Hunger in Their Communities

Hunger Task Force

Milwaukee-based Hunger Task Force operates on a unique “Free & Local” model, which means it doesn’t charge for the food it distributes and is a local leader in food banking. The organization charges no fees for local pantries for food, delivery or network membership fees and is supported 100% by local community donors who believe in the Free & Local model.

“We believe the food a family experiencing hard times should receive is the same food you or I would give to our neighbor if they needed help.” – Sherrie Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force

“Hunger Task Force highly values dignity in the work we do,” says Sherrie Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force. “We only distribute healthy, nutritious items for hungry children, families and seniors. We believe the food a family experiencing hard times should receive is the same food you or I would give to our neighbor if they needed help.”

This focus on healthy, dignified food distribution was paramount in Hunger Task Force’s operations during the pandemic. However, the importance of supporting local farmers, small businesses, and Wisconsin-grown and produced products was just as critical. Fresh foods are often more difficult to distribute through the emergency food network because of their short shelf life, so families statewide were excited to receive fresh, locally grown food.

Feeding Wisconsin

Based in Madison, Feeding Wisconsin is the statewide association of the six regional Feeding America food banks that provide food to almost 1,000 local food programs in all 72 counties. Together, they distributed 79 million pounds of food in 2020 – an increase of 62% over 2019.

“COVID-19 created many disruptions to our food security network,” says Stephanie Jung Dorfman, executive director of Feeding Wisconsin. “We took exceptional measures to evolve operations rapidly – at an increased cost – to continue to safely distribute meals.”

Food banks and pantries worked together to find solutions to accommodate no-contact, drive-up and walk-up distributions to meet demand. Safety and sanitization measures were implemented along with social distancing among staff and volunteers.

“In the past year, our emergency food system has weathered the perfect storm – increased demand, declines in donations of food and adaptations to our distribution model moving to outdoor, contactless distributions,” Dorfman says. “Through it all, our network of partners was on the front lines ensuring our friends and neighbors don’t have to worry about their next meal. As a result, we were happy to support communities across the state as well as our local farmers.”

Learn more at the Wisconsin Food Security Initiative website.