Everyday schools with immigrant and refugee student populations serve meals that go uneaten. These students cannot or will not eat these meals because they are not relevant to their cultural and religious beliefs, this is also the case with CSFP aka the Senior Food Box Program. The result is wasted food and money.

Supporting access to culturally appropriate food recognizes the connections we have to food, which go beyond nutrition and strengthen our connections to our families, cultures, and environments.

Access to foods that matter to people helps recognize and empower our communities and can even strengthen the food system. Improving food access through government subsidized nutrition programs, and farm to school programs by incorporating culturally relevant food can improve nutrition, facilitate dietary restrictions, and reduce food waste because communities are getting the ingredients necessary for culturally significant meals. 

Needs:

Provide funding for the purchase of culturally relevant foods
Provide funding for farm-to-school opportunities with local growers growing culturally relevant foods
Provide funding for opportunities with local growers growing culturally relevant foods for senior food box programs
Provide funding for cold storage for perishable imported foods
Provide funding for innovative farming practices to grow, raise, and process produce, proteins, and grains which are staples of their native diet
Providing funding for land access
Provide funding for capital projects
Provide funding for advocacy groups to develop programs that support marginalized farming communities and provide protection from predatory entities

This isn’t just about making culturally relevant foods more available. It’s also about the long-term health of immigrant and refugee families. Public health studies show that immigrants and refugees are more likely to develop chronic disease, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type II diabetes, from eating from the American diet. We have an obligation to ensure all people have access to healthy foods, especially those who struggle with access. Immigrants and refugees frequently struggle with food access especially when they must adhere to cultural and religious dietary restrictions.

Please sign and tell PA legislators you support funding for improved access to culturally relevant food for our immigrant and refugee communities!