A central theme of millennial-hosted Thanksgiving dinners across the country this year is the simple notion that everyone deserves equitable access to healthy, fresh, affordable and culturally appropriate food. Repair the World urges its thousands of online followers to “Act Now Against Hunger,” offering DIY resources and discussion guides – available at weRepair.org/thanksgiving – to support meaningful conversations around food justice and food insecurity, including the connection between acting on these issues and Jewish values.
“Time and again young adults are choosing to build connections between how they live their lives and how they tackle our biggest social challenges,” says David Eisner, CEO of Repair the World. “They see only upside in bringing complex, uncomfortable and difficult conversations into their seasonal celebrations. For many of us, Thanksgiving with our family and friends is about discussing the meaning of gratitude and abundance. Act Now Against Hunger offers us the opportunity to make the scourge of food insecurity a big part of that discussion.”
In the U.S., $218 billion is spent per year “on the growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that 1 in 7 Americans still go hungry. In every community, local groups work to address the need.
To help transform the Thanksgiving table and to root conversation about food insecurity in Jewish values, Repair the World offers special DIY guides and resources:
Addressing Hunger Together: Discuss root causes and impact of food insecurity
A Plateful of Grateful: Untangle the impact of food waste and hunger using this guide co-created with 412 Food Rescue, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that believes that good food belongs to people, not landfills
Bring Generosity to a Tough Table: If you are heading into a tense or divisive space and want to foster a generous and open conversation at your table, check out this guide we developed in partnership with Lab/Shul.
Food Justice Glossary: Build a shared language around food justice
Repair the World kicked off its call for young adults to Act Now during the High Holidays, and will integrate this campaign signature into similar initiatives to support social justice through Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Purim and Passover.
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This is a nice resource. People who find the issue raised here compelling (which should be all of us) should connect to the outstanding advocacy work being done to eradicate hunger by MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger Mhttps://mazon.org .
Urge people to visit MAZON’s outstanding traveling exhibit This is Hunger if it is coming to your town, or to a place where you know people. It inspires action all year around, which is crucial as massive cuts to SNAP are being proposed in the Federal budget.