The city of Madison is pushing to shut down a community fridge on East Johnson street, citing violations of zoning policy. The fridge, which offers free food and drinks to food insecure Madisonians, is a grassroots initiative organized by residents in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Located just up the street from Burnie’s Rock Shop, […]
Reinventing Food Banks
Food banks have been an important tool in addressing food insecurity during the pandemic, but they alone aren’t enough to solve the problem—to do that, we need to focus on the root causes of hunger. That’s the argument Katie Martin makes in her new book, Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries. She joins us on the […]
Dane County poised to extend food aid program
Yesterday, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced plans to renew a program aimed at addressing food insecurity during the pandemic. The ‘Farm to Foodbank’ program was first launched last April, and it sought to connect local farmers with food pantries struggling under the weight of record unemployment numbers. The extension, for which the county would […]
Food Insecurity During the Pandemic
An estimated 13.7 million U.S. households were food insecure last year—and this number has only grown during the pandemic, with nearly 1 in 4 households experiencing food insecurity in 2020. Today on the show, guest host Yuri Rashkin hosts a vital and timely roundtable about food insecurity in our local community with a panel of […]
The Way We Eat: Fruits, Vegetables and Food Insecurity
On this week’s episode of The Way We Eat, WORT Correspondent Jonah Chester sits down with Katie Schmitt, Marketing Coordinator with the Madison Area Food Pantry Garden. The entirely volunteer-powered organization contributes nearly 100,000 pounds of fresh produce a year to local food pantries and food aid charities. Together they discuss food insecurity and the […]
The Way We Eat: Madison’s Community Gardens
Nicholas Leete is the Gardens Network Manager for the Garden Network of Madison and Dane County. In his role, Leete is responsible for helping to oversee nearly 70 community gardens throughout the greater Madison area. In this week’s episode of The Way We Eat, WORT Correspondent Jonah Chester sits down with Leete to discuss how […]