In 2023, we celebrated Wyoming Hunger Initiative's fourth anniversary while honoring the initial tenants that the initiative was based on: one, to never reinvent the wheel and two, to be in all twenty-three counties. Wyoming Hunger Initiative prides itself on being uniquely positioned to provide the framework and foundation for successful collaborations and solutions to hunger statewide.
As one approach to ensure we are living up to fulfilling our promise to provide the framework and foundation for successful work in this space, we have spent the last couple of months updating our website and resources to meet the need of stakeholders statewide.
Furthermore, information about specific Wyoming Hunger Initiative programs has been added to better assist you in navigating the website, Wyoming Hunger Initiative programs, and the resource guides.
When you visit our home page, the first thing you may notice is that Wyoming Hunger Initiative has a new program listed. Although Grow A Little Extra is in its fourth year, it originally was nestled under the Food from the Farm + Ranch umbrella until this year.
Click on the newly designed Grow A Little Extra logo to learn how you can make a difference, one vegetable at a time. Grow A Little Extra grant applications, growing instructions, information about your local donation locations, and the newly developed video highlighting this program are included as well. Take a look!
The next thing you may notice is that the "Programs" tab has changed slightly. Although Food from the Farm + Ranch was launched in May 2020 to use Wyoming agricultural products to combat food insecurity, we couldn't have known that the program would expand to include innovative approaches to solving food insecurity such as Beef for Backpacks and Fair to Fork in addition to the livestock donation component.
If you click on Food from the Farm + Ranch logo from the home page, you will find yourself on this landing page - but not to worry - you can still click into whichever program you are looking to find from here!
You can still look at the approved list of USDA and state-inspected processors for Wyoming Hunger Initiative or the list of generous livestock donors by visiting the Livestock Donations page under Food from the Farm + Ranch.
Speaking of Beef for Backpacks, we are thrilled with this new addition to Wyoming Hunger Initiative. This program utilizes Wyoming resources to support the work of weekend food programs, making a real impact for children. After a successful pilot in Laramie County, Beef for Backpacks was expanded statewide to meet the needs of programs in almost every Wyoming county.
When you visit the Beef for Backpacks page, you can easily learn about the number of beef required to meet the need for each participating program. You will also find a list of donors who made this program possible in the first year!
In partnership with University of Wyoming Extension, 4-H, and FFA, Fair to Fork works to purchase secondary hogs through a lottery selection, from every county in Wyoming. Wyoming Hunger Initiative will purchase the pig, ensure the meat is processed by a USDA or state-inspected participating facility, and then coordinate with the 4-H or FFA member to donate it to a local anti-hunger organization in the county of origin.
New this year is a partner resource guide as part of Fair to Fork for each county 4-H office or FFA chapter to access the materials they need to encourage youth to participate. These resources can be downloaded and utilized as each county and chapter sees fit.
The "Get Help" section of the website has a page for each county and the resources available in that county. If you are reading this and don't see a resource listed that should be, reach out to info@nohungerwyo.org and let us know! We want to keep this resource listing as up-to-date as possible.
Although that covers the new additions to the website, don't forget to stop by the Fork + Spoon Blog to keep up to date with all the new and exciting Wyoming Hunger Initiative news as well as subscribe to the Wyoming Hunger Initiative newsletter that comes out monthly. To subscribe, visit the homepage and scroll down until you see the word "subscribe."
Thank you for joining the fight against food insecurity in Wyoming!