September is Hunger Action Month
September is Hunger Action Month, a month dedicated to raising awareness and encouraging action against hunger in the USA. In 2023, 13.5% of all US households (18 million households) were found to be food insecure at some time during the year. This means over 47 million people, including 13.8 million children, live in households that struggle to attain adequate nutrition.
In this newsletter, we share some of our work to support domestic programs and give suggestions on what you can do to reduce hunger in your communities.
SPI Supports Programs in the US
Seed Programs International is proud to join the effort to reduce hunger in the US by supporting school, community, and club gardens throughout the states. SPI started supporting domestic programs in 2020, when many families were struggling during the COVID pandemic. Our domestic programs support agricultural education, food literacy, and healthy food experiences through schools, libraries, and community support organizations.
We have made it a goal this year to expand our support for programs in the US to enable more gardening programs that improve nutrition and agricultural knowledge in the US. We are happy to report that we have already increased our number of partners from last year and the year is not yet complete. Over the last couple months alone, we have provided vegetable, herb, and flower seeds to programs in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Utah, Oregon, and California. These seeds are all for new partners and will be used to support gardening programs that teach participants how to grow their own healthy food in their neighborhoods.
Want to Take Action?
Here are six ways to reduce hunger through gardening in the US!
Get involved in your community – If you know of an organization that is already doing great work in your community, then reach out and see if you can volunteer or get involved.
Start a garden in your community – If you would like to start a school or community garden, then we would be happy to donate seeds to your gardening program. We created a gardening manual to help you navigate the process. You can view it here.
Host a seed packing event – Most of our seed packing events package seeds to benefit domestic programs. These events help raise funds for our programs, increase awareness about hunger, and package easy to distribute packets of seed that can be donated to humanitarian organizations in your community. Learn more here.
Donate your extra garden produce – Many food banks primarily accept canned and nonperishable goods. However, there are many food distribution centers that will also accept fresh fruits and vegetables. Ample Harvest makes it easy to find a food pantry near you that will accept donations of fresh produce.
Start a seed library – We have started partnering with libraries to start seed libraries using old card catalogs. If you work or volunteer at a library or think your local library might be interested, then reach out to us at getinvolved@seedprograms.org.
Help spread the word – Just spreading the word to increase awareness about hunger can also lead to improvements in your community.
You Can Also Donate!
Donations help increase our impact to provide quality seed to educational and hunger reduction programs throughout the US. We greatly appreciate all donations. Interested in learning how you can donates, click here.
You can donate on our website or through PayPal. We have accounts with the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) (#12423) to assist with workplace giving. Check with your employer to see if they offer donation matches. We would love to work with your workplace giving team to create a campaign specific to your group.
Thank you for your support!
