Just Food – Event 9/20 1:00PM – 4:00PM

Access to health and affordable food can be an issue for most people in Pierce County, but even more so if you are low-income.  To learn more about the issue of hunger and food in our community, please join Associated Ministries and our partners for an afternoon discussing “Just Food: Realizing Accessible, Affordable and Healthy Food”. This free event will be held on Sunday, September 20^th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the University of Puget Sound. Emergency Food Network Executive Director, Helen McGovern-Pilant will give the keynote address followed by conversations on food justice, local farming, neighborhood action, civic leaderships and food access. We hope to have everyone leave with an “action plan” on how they can help in their community.

According to Dave Wright, University Chaplain at the University of Puget Sound, “Topics such as food, hunger, and justice may be framed differently across various spiritual, religious, and ethical traditions, but as members of a broader social context this is a set of issues that we can come together to invite conversation, reflection, and action about.  My hope is that, drawing from our particular beliefs and practices for our own reasons for participation, we can come together to work for the wellbeing of our whole civic community.”  The Tacoma Interfaith Coalition includes Associated Ministries, University of Puget Sound, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Temple Beth El, St. Leo’s Food Connection, University of Washington – Tacoma, and Tacoma Buddhist Temple.

After the event you are welcome to stay and help fill backpacks for St. Leo’s Food Connection Backpack Program. To learn more about the event visit our Facebook page at https://facebook.com/AssociatedMinistries and sign up on our event page. As Kevin Glackin-Coley Director, St. Leo Food Connection says, “Hunger is a year-round reality in our community, with visits to Pierce County food banks and hot meal sites up 70% since 2008.  Identifying ways of increasing food security for everyone in our community is essential to help everyone reach their potential.“