Policy, Power, and Crisis: Reflections on a decade of organizing towards the Right to Food with West Virginia Food for All
- alisoncohenrtf
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
November 24, 2025
Food advocates, organizations, and community members from across West Virginia came together on November 14th in Morgantown for the 8th annual convening of West Virginia’s Food for All Coalition to explore critical and achievable food policy and community solutions to shape a more sustainable and equitable food system for the Mountain State.
Coming on the heels of the federal shutdown that delayed SNAP payments for some 277,000 West Virginians (16% of the population), the Food for All Summit was an opportunity for advocates working across the food system to take stock of and be fueled by their track record of weathering crises when they band together in coalition. The room was filled with more than 100 people - from sustainable farming advocates, to organizations working on anti-hunger, economic insecurity, food-is-medicine, rural grocery stores, and public education - re-energizing one another with the stories of the organizing work happening directly with communities across the state to craft and advocate for public policy that will transform the food system.
Joshua Lohnes, Research Assistant Professor and Director of the Food Justice Lab at the Center for Resilient Communities at West Virginia University, kicked off the summit with an interactive presentation looking back on the evolution of the Food for All Coalition: “Food is the most basic thing that connects all of us to each other and our environment.” Joshua (who is also a co-founder of the National Right to Food Community of Practice) went on to articulate why Food for All is (still!) here these ten years and at least that many bumps in the road later. The Coalition’s collective purpose, he reminded us, is to:
Build grassroots power to counter “astroturf” interest groups
Invite food access stakeholders and West Virginians with lived experience of food insecurity into the policy process
Educate legislators about food and hunger issues
Push back against policies that create new barriers to food access
Introduce policies that improve access to healthy food and support a robust regional food system
As the day went on, we heard from other coalition members such as the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program, the WV Center on Budget and Policy, Facing Hunger Food Bank, West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition and Voices of Hunger. It became clear that building relationships with stakeholders from different parts of the food system was key to their goal to collectively advance local, state, and federal level policies that reduce household food insecurity while working towards food sovereignty and the right to food in West Virginia.
A highlight of the day-long event was the opportunity to hear directly from five West Virginians who make up the current Seeding Sparks Fellowship, stewarded by Voices of Hunger WV in cooperation with AFSC West Virginia’s Economic Justice Project. Carolina Rascon, Project Coordinator of Voices of Hunger WV, described her work with this growing organization as “amplifying the stories and experiences of West Virginians facing food insecurity as a way to advocate for the right to food.” Stories, as explained on the organization’s website, serve as fuel in the movement towards the right to food, and humanize the effort to make policy change in local, county, and state government.
“It is important,” Carolina emphasized as she addressed the Food for All Coalition convening, “that we create and tailor a space where those affected by food insecurity can not only share their story but have input in how food access is addressed in our communities. Many times we talk about sharing stories of those with lived experiences but it’s important that those individuals are involved in the process of decision making and advocacy – not only because they intimately know how the system is failing people but to regain agency within the food system.”
Agency, Carolina explained, is to her the most important element in the right to food framework. “It is central because those who access food, particularly those who struggle to access food, must have the freedom and autonomy to shape the conversations about political processes and food environments. Voices of Hunger goes beyond sharing stories and offers [these community organizers] a place at the table. Their voices must be taken into account in policy spaces - not just because they know intimately the realities on the ground, but because it honors their agency.”
As the advocates in the room prepare for the brief and intense state legislative session that is scheduled for January 2026 and cannot persist beyond 60 days – unless a concurrent resolution is passed – the four Seeding Sparks fellows sharing their stories were asked by the coalition members present to outline their policy “dreams.”
Here were some of their enthusiastic responses:
“Fund the agencies that are already holding all of this work. We need Food Coordinator positions at the local level in each county.”
“Focus on school nutrition policy.”
“Restore the cuts to FMNP - the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. We have to get fresh produce from farmers to the people who need it most. And while we’re at it, let’s fully fund SNAP Stretch.”
“I want to see us fight for living wage policies.”
“Let’s look at Farm-to-Institutions – school and prisons - and make sure it’s all in-state local food first and foremost.”
“In the short-term, we need transportation assistance to get to food banks, or to get food to folks who are home bound. And we need less noodles, more protein.”
Duncan Waitts, one of the Seeding Sparks fellows who is currently employed at the Public Defender's office as a recovery specialist, offered a fitting bookend to Joshua’s opening remarks underscoring food as a common denominator: “Caring,” Duncan spoke into the microphone as the crowd nodded their heads in assent, “takes nothing more than to believe in people. When we advocate for food, we advocate for everyone – from the person sitting on the couch to the person laying on the ground.”