POLICY & ADVOCACY

With the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s organizational transformation, our policy and advocacy work is guided by our new commitments — particularly bold policy change. Learn more about our priorities and initiatives, how we approach this work as a team, and ways you can get involved.

OUR PRIORITIES & INITIATIVES

Our Policy & Justice team currently focuses their resources and expertise in the following three key areas:

  • Food Sovereignty

    • Equitable access to healthy, affordable, and culturally affirming food is a basic human right. And, Colorado communities should have the power to choose what they eat, where it comes from, how it’s grown, and when it's available.

    • Food sovereignty for communities is not achieved by another organization speaking or acting for them, including the Blueprint. 

    • This policy priority encompasses policies that support communities in having the right to decide what food they eat, where it comes from, and how it is produced. 

    • Within this priority, we affirm the ability of individuals to choose their diets as aligned with their cultures, spirituality, and preferences. We do not support restricting diets but do support incentives that make it easier and more affordable to eat healthfully.

    • Our organization is dedicated to respecting the autonomy and self-determination of Native/Indigenous communities and cultures that do not follow traditional white-American paradigms. We believe that their voices and leadership are essential in shaping the solutions that address food sovereignty and security among themselves.

  • Nutrition Program Administration

    • Our priority for nutrition programs is that every Coloradans eligible for and wanting to receive benefits is able to in a way that is equitable, timely, and without shame or stigma. 

    • State and county agencies administering government nutrition programs should be well-supported, with access to technology and modernization tools that reduce administrative burden and streamline workloads. 

    • We aim for Colorado to opt for flexibilities, pilots, waivers, and interpretations of federal guidelines in ways that make our state the most progressive and effective at drawing more federal benefits. These actions improve accessibility and program retention for the Coloradans they serve.

  • Supporting Coloradans

    • Access or disrupted access to food does not happen independently of other factors. We recognize that many times, improving food systems means improving other intersecting issues for Coloradans. This includes housing, transportation, healthcare access, and economic mobility. 

    • We aim to support partner organizations with our expertise in food justice on intersectional policies that impact Coloradans. 

    • Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) is the most restrictive tax and expenditure limit in the country. While the majority of Coloradans favor receiving annual refund checks, the limitations to our state’s revenue leave our public programs and services antiquated, underfunded, understaffed, and inefficient. We believe advocates across all sectors need to build a movement to achieve sustainable success in policies that support the health and well-being of all Coloradans. Education towards progressive tax reform, along with building political and public will, will take time — and we aim to direct our resources to a collective movement.  

OUR APPROACH

We take a bold approach in all of our policy and advocacy work by:

  • Looking to our network to originate policy items and leverage Blueprint resources to support initiatives rooted in community and partnership 

  • Doing our work in the open with a commitment to transparency, directness, and collaboration. 

  • Aiming to collaborate first and share resources to collectivize power. 

  • Taking our time in our policy work to ensure that people who are impacted by policies are included in shaping and co-creating them.

  • Challenging others working in policy to lead with the same values of transparency and collaboration.

JOIN OUR EFFORTS

Participate in one of our committees, projects, or other spaces:

Take action now:

  • Sign up for our policy& advocacy alerts!

  • Get out the vote! Elections shape food policy and your vote matters. Make sure you’re registered and prepared to vote down the ballot.

Stay informed and knowledgeable:

  • State legislative session

  • Federal agenda

    • A strong Farm Bill that protects SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and local food systems

    • Fully funding for WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children

    • Opposition to the Kroger & Albertson’s proposed merger

  • Our policy & advocacy resources, including:

    • Introduction to state legislative session (101 presentation and video)