The Montgomery County Food Council (MCFC) and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services co-hosted a successful Food Security Plan Community Update on Friday, June 28th, attended by nearly 100 food security stakeholders and community partners. The event featured a welcome from MCFC Board Chair Sharon Feuer Gruber, a greeting from County Executive Marc Elrich, as well as presentations from Dr. Travis Gayles, Montgomery County Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services, Amanda Nesher, the MCFC Food Security Programs Manager, Rhona Reiss, MCFC Food Security Plan Community Advisory Board Member, and Thomas Tippett, Performance Management Analyst at CountyStat.
Presenters shared an update on the Food Security Plan implementation efforts to date, new data accessible through FoodStat and the impact of FoodStat on Food Assistance Services in the County, recent policy and advocacy efforts related to food security at the County and State level, and next steps for addressing the recommendations in Years 3, 4, and 5 of the Plan. The event also included a panel discussion on “Implementing Food Security Plan Recommendations: Opportunities & Challenges.” This panel covered a variety of topics, including expanding access to benefits programs, increasing the availability of culturally appropriate food, combatting food insecurity amongst college students, and expanding food recovery efforts.
Please click to view the presentation slides and the handout presented at the Update (the FoodStat interactive data tool can be accessed here). In addition, MyMCMedia produced a Spanish-language segment about the event which can be found here.
If you or your organization is interested in learning more about the Food Security Plan or the Food Council’s work related to food recovery and access, please contact Amanda Nesher at [email protected]. Thank you!