collaborative action

On August 14-19, my leadership team and I traveled to Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Marianna Islands (CNMI) to meet with the territories’ leadership, Superintendents and Commissioners, that administer USDA food assistance programs. We discussed the challenges of transitioning back to pre-pandemic operations and how USDA could assist. We also wanted to hear and see what has worked well, so we could share lessons learned with other states and territories as they transition to post pandemic operations.

It’s eight in the morning, and farmers with hand hoes and buckets have been here for two hours already, weeding and watering their plots before the heat of the day. Over 200 members of the Somali Bantu community of Lewiston, Maine, make the short drive out to Liberation Farms a few times each week to tend their crops. Visitors to our farm often comment on how few weeds they spot between stalks of corn. It’s not magic, we tell them: our farmers are constantly in friendly competition to see who can have the best-looking plot.

In May 2022, FNS Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Dr. Patty Bennett joined Maryland Department of Aging Deputy Secretary Bernice Hutchinson and other nutrition partners at Sandtown Winchester Senior Center in West Baltimore to promote “My Groceries to Go,” the Commodity Supplemental Food Program in Maryland.

In honor of the 30th Anniversary of SNAP-Ed, Western Regional Administrator, Jesus Mendoza, Jr., and I attended Rosemary Elementary School in Campbell, CA. The local SNAP-Ed team – which is officially referred to as CalFresh Healthy Living – led a presentation on nutrition education and discussed the importance of every kid eating well-balanced meals.

My name is Paul Birkbeck, and I have worked with SNAP for 26 years and have been honored to chair Utah's State Nutrition Action Coalition (SNAC) for the past eight years. Throughout the United States, SNACs are an innovative, collaborative strategy to improve community health through partnerships. I am in awe of the passion and dedication of our nutrition partners in Utah.

On May 9, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS) partnered to celebrate a step forward in streamlining access to crucial government programs.

The Food and Nutrition Service’s Mid-Atlantic Region recently joined forces with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to recognize Programs for Parents, a Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sponsor in Essex County, NJ, with a regional CACFP Achievement Award for their creative and dedicated efforts to promote nutrition security among children. Their program emphasizes meal quality, nutrition education, and the overall wellness of its childcare providers, children and parents/caregivers.