Scoop 60
PFPC Highlights
Join us at the 2022 Pittsburgh Urban Farm Tour! Get to know Pittsburgh’s urban farms and see how they are teaching community members how to grow food, remediating pollution, increasing access to fresh food, and converting disinvested areas into productive green spaces. The Farm Tour is a fundraiser that supports participating urban farms and the Urban Growers Scholarship Fund. Tickets are on a sliding scale. Children under 5 are free. If you are experiencing financial hardship, please email info@eastendfood.coop to request a free ticket!
Food System News
$21.5 million free school breakfast for PA Students
Governor Tom Wolf announced his $21.5 million plan to provide universal free school breakfast for 1.7 million students across the commonwealth this school year. The Universal Free Breakfast Program will go into effect on October 1, 2022 and run through the end of the 2022-23 school year. Read more about this announcement here.
Take Action
Create a Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund!
Please sign on to this letter to Mayor Gainey and the City Council supporting the creation of a Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund. The fund will increase public investment in grassroots efforts to address food apartheid and help develop a just, equitable, and sustainable food system.
Join us in asking the City to establish a $10 million fund to be spent over four years. This is only 3% of the $335 million the City received from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act! The fund would utilize a simple, accessible application process and be open to anyone living or working in the City of Pittsburgh. There would be community oversight over the distribution of funds and prioritization for projects led by and benefiting people of color.
A range of projects could be supported through the Food Justice Fund, including:
Expand urban farming
Develop community markets and mobile markets
Aggregate local farm fresh foods
Reduce food waste
Deliver cooking demonstrations and nutritional education
Build capacity and provide technical support for farmers, business owners, and other food-related organizations
Join the call to support the Food Justice Fund today! We welcome individual and organizational sign-on.
Greater Pittsburgh Area Job Opportunities
The Pittsburgh Food Policy Council is hiring an Executive Director.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is hiring for multiple positions.
PASA Sustainable Agriculture is hiring for multiple positions.
Grounded is hiring a Project Coordinator: Resident and Volunteer Resources.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is hiring a Policy Specialist.
Pennsylvania Certified Organic is hiring a Communications and Executive Coordinator.
