Advocacy

SCDSS has announced that January 31, 2023 will be the end of the federally-approved Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) emergency allotments for South Carolina households. South Carolinians will return to receiving regular benefit amounts monthly. This will make a big impact on many households, particularly elderly and moderately low income.  January has been designated as […]

Food insecurity and access in rural communities is real for many families living in food deserts. At the SC Rural Resource Coalition Annual Meeting on Dec. 7, 2022, Giany Didier Guedjo from Carolina Human Reinvestment – CHRSC, Courtney Watson from FoodShare South Carolina, and Stephanie Jones & Albert Rice from  Saltcatcher Farms will discuss the […]

SC Parents, some for the first time ever, will have to submit a free/reduced school lunch meal application for the 2022-2023 school year. Pandemic protections over the past two school years had enabled children to receive free school meals without the need for applications. Those protections have expired, meaning a return to many pre-pandemic policies. […]

High gas and grocery prices have been somewhat of a shared trauma within communities across the country. It’s a symptom of inflation, which has raised prices by roughly 8.5%, the highest hike the U.S. has seen in decades. A recent piece from SC Public Radio highlights the issues families are facing and how organizations like […]

FoodShare South Carolina sites in and around Columbia are included. The City of Columbia and the Columbia Food Policy Committee have created new a food access geographic information system map that lists various sites to access healthy food for the whole family. Locations listed on the map include grocery stores, farmer markets, food pantries, FoodShare […]

Fight Poverty Not the Poor. FoodShare SC’s Advocacy efforts seek to engage in dialogues and advocacy with our elected officials, leveraging our state-wide network and their unique needs and concerns. As a part of these efforts, a FoodShare staff joined others from South Carolina and across the nation to participate in the Poor People’s and […]

As the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, what have we learned about our food access needs? In 2019 the Columbia Food Policy Committee held a series of listening sessions with community members and released a comprehensive report and list of recommendations for City Council on how they can build equitable access to healthy foods […]

It’s been more than 50 years since the first and only White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health was held in 1969. That pivotal event influenced the country’s food policy agenda for the next 50 years. Half a century later, the 2022 White House Conference will catalyze the public and private sectors around a coordinated strategy […]

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental and physical health are interconnected. We know that poverty causes stressors such as insecurity in food, housing, income, and these stressors can also cause an increased risk of mental health problems. This is why we’re participating in the upcoming NAMI Mid-Carolina NAMIWalk on Saturday, May 21st at Columbia […]