Advocacy
At Food to Power, we know that fundamental change to the food system requires policy and systemic changes. Our advocacy work is aimed at addressing the root causes of food insecurity, like low wages, lack of transportation, and housing insecurity.
Hillside Vendor List
Food to Power is committed to community wealth-building and spending locally for services and goods as a form of advocacy. To that end, our advocacy team is creating a list of businesses and services in the Hillside neighborhood!
We gathered information vendors want to share. This included basic information about the business and what it offers, identifiers such as BIPOC or women-owned, and personal stories of relation to the Hillside neighborhood.
The first version of the vendor list launched in early 2024, and we’re so honored to bring these stories and business profiles together!
Kroger-Albertsons Mega-Merger
Food to Power has conducted multiple town halls and listening sessions to brainstorm food access solutions, and community members have made it clear: we need accessible grocery options and we need them now. We need to keep skyrocketing food prices at bay while protecting the rights of frontline workers who staff our grocery stores to unionize and receive a living wage.
Krogers and Albertsons are the two largest full-service grocery chains in the country, in Colorado, and in the Pikes Peak Region. Their proposed merger threatens the closure of many full-service grocery stores in Colorado, and these closures will worsen issues of food accessibility, raise food prices, cost us local jobs, and reduce farmers’ and other suppliers’ ability to sell their products.
Among other efforts, we are organizing a petition for Coloradans to sign asking the Attorney General to lead the fight to stop the mega-merger. Find out more through the link below!
Street Team
The Street Team is a group of dedicated volunteers who want to make a difference in our food system. Street Team members work with Food to Power’s Advocacy Manager to learn how to canvas (go door to door talking to community members), engage with neighbors, and listen. They work on all kinds of issues related to Food to Power’s core policy priorities: food waste reduction, health equity and nutritious food access, the living wage, and localizing our food system.
Healthy School Meals for All
In the fall of 2022 Food to Power helped pass a statewide ballot initiative, Proposition FF, called Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA). The initiative funds universal free school breakfast and lunch for any school district that opts into the program. It also funds higher wages for cafeteria workers, and gives schools extra money to buy food from local Colorado farmers and ranchers.
The work on HSMA continues! In the 2023-2024 school year, school districts that opt in to participate in the program will offer free school meals to all students in participating public schools. Community listening sessions are being hosted on a school district level to ensure input on local food purchasing decisions for future school years.
Listening sessions and conversations are being scheduled by school district - more information is to come. Learn more below!