The Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions (DCHS) is in the midst of their 10th Annual Dallas Hunger Summit, and they are calling for a holistic approach to fight hunger. The organization was established in 2012, to fight hunger and empower Dallas citizens “to gain equitable access to healthy food.”
Wyonella Henderson-Greene, coalition specialist, said the community gardens are one of their recent success stories. The coalition was able to make changes to city rules that now allow residents to operate community gardens in their neighborhoods. This improves economic development and helps more people have access to healthy food.
However, they are still after more solutions to end hunger.
“The conversation continues to be about reducing hunger and improving access to healthy food for everyone,” Henderson-Greene said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t made a lot of progress in that regard.”
She told NBC 5 that relief programs have helped hunger during the Covid-19 crisis, but food insecurity and other related issues will continue to rise. She stated that solutions need to “ include more than giving hungry people food. As with all complex problems, it’s necessary to consider multiple approaches for creating solutions.”
The theme of this year’s summit is Top 10 Hunger Solutions. The virtual event will feature speakers from various community sectors. They will discuss holistic approaches to solving hunger and ways to make food more secure in North Texas.
The coalition has compiled their list of Top 10 hunger solutions and shared it with NBC 5. Their solutions consist of:
#1 Affordable Living
#2 Eliminate Food Deserts and Create Nutrition Secure Communities
#3 Hunger as A Health Strategy
#4 Collaborative Partnerships to Enhance Community Work
#5 Access to Transportation
#6 Close Technology Gaps
#7 Continuous Education to Build Awareness and Develop Advocates
#8 Expand Eligibility for Government Supported Food Assistance
#9 Food Justice/Food Sovereignty
#10 Innovative Pilot Programs with Human-Centered Design
There are five different Action Teams that make up the coalition. These teams “bring together community leaders who are engaged in the work of addressing hunger and poverty to take action in a collaborative setting,” according to the coalition.
The Hunger Summit is held every year to provide the Dallas community the opportunity to learn more about the coalition, and what they can do to fight hunger on a local level.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s summit will take place virtually, with it free for community members to register and attend. This was the second year in a row it had to be held online.
The first web seminar was held on Friday, September 17. The second one took place on the morning of September 24. The third and final seminar will be held virtually on October 1.
