Mission & History – What We Do

Utahns Against Hunger works to create the political and public will to end hunger. Since 1981 Utahns Against Hunger has worked to expand the reach of nutrition programs to the estimated 1 in 6 households in Utah that struggle to afford enough food.

We are not an emergency food provider. Food pantries and charities make up only about 15% of all food assistance in our state. So instead, we work hard every day to shape public policy and make nutrition programs work for the people who need them.

We work to build the public will to end hunger by educating and collaborating with local policymakers who decide how programs work.

We strengthen child nutrition by promoting and expanding summer food programs, school meals, and by ensuring that safety-net programs like WIC and Food Stamps are doing what they are supposed to do. We grow community networks by helping to build the capacity of local charities and ensuring that people in need know where to go for help in their local communities. And finally, we raise the profile of hunger by working with media, community groups, educators, and religious organizations.

No one in Utah should suffer from hunger. Please join in supporting our work!

History

Since 1981 Utahns Against Hunger has been working to eliminate hunger in Utah.  Started as a project of Crossroads Urban Center in the late 1970’s, we were formed as the community recognized the need to improve access to federal nutrition programs state-wide.
Utahns Against Hunger worked closely with Community Action Agencies to identify policy issues and clients who were not being appropriately served by state agencies.
Utahns Against Hunger continues to stay true to its mission that it has followed for the last 30 years.

While some activities have changed – such as the organization has moving away from distributing food directly in low-income neighborhoods – we still work to increase and secure funding for those agencies on the state level.

Other activities are coming full circle in order to meet the community need.  Early in our history, Utahns Against Hunger recognized the need to preserve farm land, the role of agricultural policy on food prices and secured some of the first funding in the state for community gardens.  Our most recent efforts include planning a youth development urban farming program that teaches high schoolers job and life skills while empowering them to grow their own food and serve their community.

In the past year, UAH gave mini-grants to six farmers markets who are now accepting food stamp benefits at their markets.  UAH is also a founding member of the Salt Lake Food Policy Task Force and is engaged in helping the community connect the local food movement with the issues of access and affordability for low-income Utahns.

We continue our advocacy on both the state and federal level to ensure programs are accessible for all eligible households.

 
This video by LocalMotive Utah features our own Gina Cornia and Mike Evans talking about the mission of Utahns Against Hunger.