It’s Farmers Market Season! Another Fresh Access season has begun — our ninth! So far, this program has put over $1.5 million in the hands of local farmers and vendors by enabling people to shop at farmers markets in their communities using food stamps, Pandemic EBT, credit and debit cards. And our Food Bucks coupons make SNAP and P-EBT purchases more affordable! Eleven of this season’s 14 Fresh Access farmers markets have opened with two more starting up this month and our newest Fresh Access market in Carnegie starting in July. Wondering what you’ll find at the markets these days? Aside from the delicious bread, dairy, and prepared foods that a hundred Fresh Access vendors will have on hand, look for the freshest lettuce and spring veggies that money can buy!  View the Fresh Access market schedule

Healthy Corner Stores Serve Their Communities Back in February, we introduced the newest addition to our healthy corner stores network, East African Grocery in McKees Rocks. They, along with Juba Grocery in Brentwood, are two of the immigrant-owned corner stores in our Fresh Corners initative, which helps owners of corner stores in areas of food apartheid (“food deserts”) stock fresh fruits and vegetables. The pandemic has threatened the livelihood of some of our store owners as customers limited their purchases. It has also been an opportunity, though, to further serve those reluctant or unable to take multiple buses to the nearest grocery store, as well as those searching for hard-to-find specialty staples and imported items. We’re thankful to Bridgeway Capital for helping these store owners pursue their dreams.  View the Bridgeway video featuring these two stores   Learn more about our Fresh Corners program

Get Answers to Your Questions on Pandemic School Meals Benefits The long-awaited roll-out of Pandemic EBT benefits for families with school-age children has finally begun. Though the school year is almost over, families whose children are enrolled in the free or reduced-price school meals program (either individually or through their district’s “community eligibility provision”) will receive nutrition assistance for any months this school year they had any days of virtual instruction. We’ve been fielding hundreds of questions about this benefit, and tens of thousands of people from across PA have checked out the FAQ on our website. So we teamed up with Greater Philadelphia Coalition on Hunger in a presentation on the program, with info on the new P-EBT benefit for children ages 0-5 on SNAP, and to preview Summer P-EBT for SNAP families. View the video View the FAQ

IN THE NEWS

Fair Fares for a Full Recovery Lobbying continues for reduced Port Authority fares for low-income riders May 1: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “For the second straight week, advocates for low-income riders Friday used a hearing on proposed Port Authority fare changes to lobby for free or reduced fares for low-income riders…..”

Federal Hunger Policy The Biden Administration’s Chance to Improve SNAP and Nutrition Support May 18: Washington Monthly Just Harvest’s executive director Ken Regal and public policy advocate Ann Sanders provided insights and research for this op-ed by author Sameer M. Siddiqi, an associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.

UPCOMING EVENT

Rally and Press Conference for a Third Reconstruction Monday, Jun. 7 | 12:00 – 1:00 PM Congressman Mike Doyle’s office: 2637 E Carson St. PGH 15203 Join Just Harvest and the PA Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival for a news conference and rally to demand a Third Reconstruction in America. Pennsylvania will join with states around the country and Washington DC to put our U.S. Representatives on notice. Drawing on the transformational history of the First Reconstruction following the Civil War and the Second Reconstruction of the civil rights struggles of the 20th century, today we need a Third Reconstruction to revi We stand united with folks across the country as they too call on their US Representatives to sign-on to our Third Reconstruction Resolution.ve our moral and political commitments to democracy and the founding principles of the country. With this resolution, we (1) acknowledge the deep harms we have suffered from systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of health care, militarism and the false narrative of white supremacist nationalist extremism and (2) commit to heal and transform the nation by addressing these interlocking injustices, beginning with those most impacted, with moral and just laws and policies. For Covid safety organizers are asking that all participants wear double masks and remain at least 8ft apart at all times. If you are feeling at all ill, even the slightest of symptoms, they ask that you stay at home and watch this program online. For more information, contact our grassroots organizer Dana Dolney at danad@justharvest.org or view the event on Facebook.

Addressing hunger’s root cause – economic injustice – by improving public policy, boosting food access, and building community power.

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