Hunger Free Oklahoma Blog

by Jessica Dietrich, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy 2022 Legislative Session Legislative session is now underway, with both chambers primarily focused on committee work through March 3. Legislators requested a total of 3,019 bills ahead of this legislative session. New bill requests, combined with carryover bills from the 2021 legislative session, means there […]

by Sarah Smith-Moore, Hunger Outreach Program Specialist Food is a basic need that every human being deserves but it is also more than that. Food nourishes our bodies, connects us to our families, our neighbors, and our community. We often gather around a table of food for many reasons: holidays, hardships, birthdays, or a night […]

The Lift Oklahoma Communities, Agriculture, and Lifestyles (LOCAL) Coalition is seeking ways to expand the DUO program across the state through a stronger public/private partnership.

by Chris Bernard, Executive Director 2021 did not play out in the manner many of us had thought or hoped it would at the beginning of the year. While we were able to get back to some degree of normalcy for part of the year, it was not long until new variants brought about the […]

by Jessica Dietrich, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy 2022 Legislative Session This week is the bill filing deadline ahead of the 2022 legislative session which begins in just a few short weeks. Legislators requested a total of 3,019 bills ahead of legislative session. New bill requests, combined with carryover bills from the 2021 […]

Chris Bernard, Hunger Free Oklahoma’s executive director, was invited to testify at a congressional roundtable, along with four other experts from across the nation, as part of an effort to examine the issue of hunger in rural America.

by Jessica Dietrich, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, and Bailey Ashbaker, Senior Policy Analyst and Engagement Specialist Chris Bernard Testifies Before House Rules Committee In case you missed it, our Executive Director, Chris Bernard, was invited to testify at a congressional roundtable along with four other experts from across the nation as part […]

Chris Bernard, Hunger Free Oklahoma’s executive director, was invited to testify at a congressional roundtable, along with four other experts from across the nation, as part of an effort to examine the issue of hunger in rural America. The roundtable, Ending Hunger in America: Food Insecurity in Rural America, was the twelfth event in a […]

by Jessica Dietrich, Policy & Government Relations Manager and Bailey Ashbaker, Senior Policy Analyst and Engagement Specialist Announcing the LOCAL Coalition Hunger Free Oklahoma, in partnership with the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, recently formed the Lift Oklahoma Communities, Agriculture, and Lifestyles (LOCAL) Coalition. The coalition is advocating for a state investment to expand access […]

by Chris Bernard, Executive Director In reflecting on HFO’s five years of work and thinking of how to best sum it up for the newsletter, I struggled. Listing accomplishments and impacts is a perfectly reasonable approach, after all, we have many accomplishments to be proud of – as an organization and as a member of […]