Courtesy of Johnson C. Smith University
Congresswoman Alma Adams and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) held the second of four “Focus on Food” meetings at Johnson C. Smith University on Thursday, June 29, 2023.
“I’d like to extend a special welcome to Congresswoman Alma Adams, the godmother of HBCUs and an honorary Golden Bull in her own right,” said Dr. Davida L. Haywood ’98, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. “And we are equally as excited to have Rep. McGovern here, who we welcome as another honorary Golden Bull.”
Adams was joined by McGovern, a fellow member of the Congressional Hunger Caucus who has made it his mission since being elected in 2013 to work toward ending the problems of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Adams began her Adams Hunger Initiative in 2014, so the began partnering on hunger-related issues to work toward comprehensive change.
The two spend a significant portion of the meeting discussing their plans to advocate for more funding for SNAP benefits and highlighting programs like the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainability’s urban farm at JCSU.
“Thanks to the various programs like SNAP and local programs like what JCSU’s Sustainability Village is doing to partner with and provide for the community, we’ve made significant strides in closing the hunger gap, but we still have a long road ahead of us,” said Adams.
The pair also highlighted the Congressional Hunger Caucus’ recent accomplishments. Within the last year, the caucus has established a permanent EBT program to address child hunger during the summer, began screening military families for hunger and are working diligently to expand access to free school meals so no child will go hungry.
“We need to start treating hunger as the health issue it is,” McGovern said. “Food ought to be a fundamental right for every single person in this country. We have to address the food apartheid in America. I know a lot of people use the term ‘dessert,’ but desserts are natural, and apartheids are man-made. America is the richest country in the history of the world. I think it is an outrage that any single person could go hungry here.”
After their presentation, Adams and McGovern entertained questions from a four-person panel of community farmers and food bank workers. Panelists included Kenya Joseph, board chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council; Ebone’ Lockett, founder and CEO of Harvesting Humanity, LLC; Cherie Jzar, owner and cofounder of Deep Roots CPS Farm; and Tina Postel, CEO of Loaves and Fishes/Friendship Trays.
The audience was also given the opportunity to pose questions to the panel and the representatives. Several other local and national representatives were present, including Tim Beard, North Carolina’s State Conservationist, as well as Barbara Bleiweis, supervisor for Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District.