Welcome to the Food Policy Debrief, where we shed much-needed light on how corporations and organizations can engage with progressive food policy. Join us once a month as we provide news updates, demystify policy, and provide opportunities for advocacy!

Subscribe to the Food Policy Debrief

TL;DR

Unions, free school meals, and the classic soup-CEO-to-president-of-an-NFL-team-pipeline
An update on the never-ending Farm Bill cycle
A meal company's new campaign to donate food during the holiday season
How to give back better this holiday season
Bonus: Holiday foods the FPD team can’t live without

This Month’s Standout Food Stories

👀 Bills We’re Tracking

🥕 Farm Bill: Yes, it’s still a thing. No, we don’t know where it’s going.

Read about how the fight over how/when to renew the Farm Bill is continuing in light of Senator Stabenow releasing a Senate draft in mid-November (If you need a refresher, here’s our Farm Bill deep dive from a few months ago)
Groups are urging lawmakers to include the The Restore Act language in the Farm Bill, which would eliminate the national lifetime ban from SNAP for people with felony drug convictions.
Advocates are also pushing for the Training and Nutrition Stability Act, which would enable people to continue receiving SNAP benefits while in federal job training programs. The current system, advocates say, forces people to choose between food security and job training.

**How You Can Progress Food Policy This Month**

For organizations/companies: FDA and USDA are requesting information/feedback from food industry members on food industry practices, including date labeling. The agencies have posted 13 questions for folks to comment on/respond to, so take a look at give ‘em your thoughts! Whether you're someone in the food industry, or an organization who donates food based on donations we'd encourage you to leave a comment. To do so, or just learn more, head to the Federal Register.

Social Impact Spotlight

Shedding light on companies leading by example and engaging in food policy in a meaningful way

Last month, Daily Harvest launched a give-back campaign designed to fight food insecurity during the holiday season. The company released a new line of curated, no-subscription-required gift bundles, and **for every bundle sold, it is donating five meals to food bank partners in the U.S.** Daily Harvest—which sells plant-based, frozen meals made with sustainably sourced ingredients—is running this campaign from now through the end of December.

Andrew Noyes, VP of Communications and Corporate Affairs, told the Food Policy Debrief team that "This holiday season, we believe in more than just nourishing our customers—we're committed to nourishing communities. Our gift bundles are a delicious way to spread joy, and each purchase helps us make a meaningful difference for families facing food insecurity in America. This effort also makes it easier for more people to access food made with wholesome, organic, sustainably sourced ingredients."

Read more about Daily Harvest's campaign here.

**How to Give Back Better This Holiday Season**

If you’re like the Food Policy Debrief team, this year brings out all sorts of emotions (maybe this year more than others…but we digress). These feelings can be both contradictory and go hand-in-hand. For example, we're practicing gratitude for all that we do have, while being assured by consumerism that we absolutely need more. We’re over-prepping and indulging in lots of food, while grappling with the reality that many of our neighbors are often wondering where their next meal will come from. And maybe, we’re motivated to support our community in some capacity, but we’re not always sure how to truly have an impact. It’s giving overwhelming.

We’re not here to say we have the end-all-be-all answer (but how cool would that be?!) but we are here to 1. Tell you that you’re not alone and 2. Provide ideas/ ways to give back to your community that might have a more effective or sustainable impact. Let’s get into it.

1. Donate, don’t dump

Food donations are a beautiful thing. We’re all about ‘em! But did you know that most food banks or pantries actually have requests or even limitations to what they’ll accept? Instead of shopping in the back of your pantry for a can or two, consider checking out the organization’s website or social media to see what they’re in need of this holiday season and bringing that instead. Also, be sure to always donate high-quality foods that you would want to eat, too.

2. Look into starting a monthly recurring donation

Recurring donations result in a steady-stream of year-round donations for organizations, rather than a hard-to-predict deluge at the end of the year. This helps them budget better across the fiscal year. If you are waiting with bated breath to learn how much you raise in the last month of the year to plan ahead, it can create a jam in the budget planning process and lead to uncertainty.

So if you happen to have extra funds to donate, try setting up a monthly donation to a food recovery organization that feels right to you. But also, why is it that $10 a month sounds financially smart and manageable, but a $100 donation feels like a massive decision that we need to run by an accountant?!

3. Think beyond the emergency food system

While food banks are a crucial community service that keep millions of people fed across the country, this programming often addresses a symptom of poverty (food insecurity) rather than the root causes of poverty themselves (such as lack of access to nourishing food, transportation, job security, etc.). This holiday season, consider learning more about, supporting, or getting involved with organizations that are working to address systemic issues causing food insecurity, such as Dion’s Chicago Dream, Hot Bread Kitchen, Esperanza Community Farms, and so many more.

P.S. We also want to note that many food banks have started building out incredible programming to help fight root causes as well, such as Mid-Ohio Collective’s five-pronged approach.

4. Remember there’s more to donate than money

Monetary donations are great, of course, but they’re not everything! Consider what skills you may have that could benefit a community organization—maybe you’re creative and can donate design work or are a lawyer who can donate your time to review contracts. Scan your local food pantry’s website, or shoot them an email to see what kind of volunteers/roles they could use. The point is: There are so many additional ways to strengthen your community with more than dollars!

5. Set a calendar reminder to give back

Ok, hear us out: We’re all so motivated to give back this time of year because of this beautiful cultural moment, which results in an incredible wave of effort. But then it tends to stagnate throughout the year. Think about setting a reminder for every three months or even mid-year to take one effort to strengthen your community. Maybe you fill the community fridge in your neighborhood, take a shift at the emergency kitchen, check-out a book about food access at the library, or send a letter to your member of Congress about a new food bill you read in a certain food newsletter that rhymes with Good Shmolicy Trebief.

Before we part, let us also say that by subscribing (and reading this far in) to this newsletter, you are engaging in work to improve the food system to some extent every month, which is not nothing. We appreciate you!

BONUS from the FPD Staff:
4 Holiday Foods We Can’t Live Without

🧀 First off, mac and cheese
It’s not a holiday without a good mac and cheese, and I am not talking about what you might get from a box. You’ve got to make your own sauce, you’ve got to bake it, ideally there’s some breadcrumbs or some more melted cheese on top. My go to? The Kitchenista Angela Davis’s Classic Creamy Mac and Cheese.

🍰 Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
Now, listen, I know what you’re thinking… but these highly-processed goodies get me every year. Sometimes I only have one or two, other years an entire box (don’t worry, not in one day), but it’s not Christmas without it. Bonus points if you freeze them first.

🥃 Bourbon, specifically Maker’s Mark (liquor is a food, right?)
This is the only time of year I dare to drink dark liquor anymore, and the sensation of a neat, two finger glass with a singular ice cube is unmatched as a warming cocktail to usher in the holiday.

🥔 Latkes
Even if you aren’t Jewish and don’t celebrate Hanukkah (I am not Jewish but do love a good Hanukkah party), a crispy, golden potato latke (though I’ve also had them in sweet potato form) is an absolutely elite holiday food. You aren’t going to be doing all that frying in the summertime, and these delicious treats are perfect to keep your kitchen and soul warm. I will leave the sour cream vs. applesauce debate to the pros, though, as I like either.