April 18, 2024
The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s Microfunding Project Team is excited to announce that eight individuals and grassroots organizations will receive funding support as part of its microgrant initiative. Each will receive $3,000 to bolster their efforts to increase access to nutritious, affordable food in their local communities.
April 17, 2024
Beginning this year, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT or S-EBT) program will provide eligible families with $120 per eligible student through a one-time payment, equating to $40 per month of summer break. Benefits will come in the form of pre-loaded cards that families can use to purchase groceries.
April 16, 2024
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced its final rule revising the food package for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). It emphasizes more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as presents a wider choice of foods from different cultures, with implementation happening over the next two years.
April 5, 2024
House Bill 2024-1301, which considers time to eat and play in Colorado public schools, advanced from the House Education Committee on Thursday, April 4, on a 10-1 vote. Thank you to the students, parents, and other advocates who testified in favor of this legislation!
April 4, 2024
Denver City Council recently passed an ordinance requiring Denver restaurants to offer water or milk as the default drink options on kids’ menus. the Blueprint’s State Policy Committee was one of the organizations that endorsed the Healthy Drinks in Kids’ Meals strategy, expressing support for the recommendation to ensure the automatic beverage on children’s menus is a healthy one.
April 18, 2024
The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s Microfunding Project Team is excited to announce that eight individuals and grassroots organizations will receive funding support as part of its microgrant initiative. Each will receive $3,000 to bolster their efforts to increase access to nutritious, affordable food in their local communities.
April 17, 2024
Beginning this year, the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT or S-EBT) program will provide eligible families with $120 per eligible student through a one-time payment, equating to $40 per month of summer break. Benefits will come in the form of pre-loaded cards that families can use to purchase groceries.
April 16, 2024
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced its final rule revising the food package for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). It emphasizes more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as presents a wider choice of foods from different cultures, with implementation happening over the next two years.
April 4, 2024
Denver City Council recently passed an ordinance requiring Denver restaurants to offer water or milk as the default drink options on kids’ menus. the Blueprint’s State Policy Committee was one of the organizations that endorsed the Healthy Drinks in Kids’ Meals strategy, expressing support for the recommendation to ensure the automatic beverage on children’s menus is a healthy one.
April 3, 2024
What’s happening and coming up at the Blueprint? We’ve brought together funders to work towards food justice in Colorado. Plus, we’re hosting a virtual tour of The Hunger Museum, a community workshop on nutrition and self-care awareness, and open office hours for your equity challenges and questions.
April 2, 2024
During the 2024 session, state legislators have introduced more bills recently. The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger's State Policy Committee is actively involved in and tracking several of them. This includes the Healthy Food Incentives Fund, the Community Food Assistance Provider Grant Program, and legislation to address some of the funding challenges with Healthy School Meals for All.
March 21, 2024
Throughout the week of March 25, we will join community leaders, union members, and many others across Colorado in celebrating César Chávez Day on Sunday, March 31. This commemorative holiday recognizes the legacy of the national labor and civil rights activist on his birthday and promotes community service in honor of the Chicano and Mexican American efforts for labor rights.
March 13, 2024
The Blueprint’s Workgroup #2/3: Healthy Food Access in Communities launched a new microgrant program in 2023, awarding $30,000 to community members and grassroots organizations during its first round of funding. With support from the Colorado Community Health Alliance, they’re now pledging a total of $24,000 to support more small projects that aim to increase access to nutritious, affordable food in local communities. The application opens on Friday, March 15.
March 12, 2023
Last Friday, Congress passed a 2024 federal budget bill with full funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This means eligible families won’t have to worry about waitlists or being turned away.
While a crisis was averted this year, it’s concerning that a historically bipartisan success was even up for debate. That’s why we must turn our attention to the future – and how policymakers can ensure WIC continues to create bright futures for infants, young children, and new and expecting parents.
March 7, 2024
During National Nutrition Month®, the Blueprint team restates our commitment to becoming a regenerative organization, reversing historical inequities in our food systems. In this blog post, our policy director (who’s also a registered dietitian) reflects on instances where our food justice work meets nutrition and the importance of balancing food access against diet quality and food choice.
February 26, 2024
The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger envisions a Colorado where everyone who lives here can access the food they choose, where they want it, and when they need it. Healthy School Meals For All and its associated grant programs take our state closer to that vision.
The successful program has exceeded expectations in student participation – so much so that there’s a significant funding shortfall to cover all associated costs. We’re working towards sustainable funding that Colorado families, schools, and producers can rely upon every school year.
February 22, 2024
The Colorado Health Insitute recently released its 2023 Colorado Health Access Survey. With input from nearly 10,000 Colorado households, the data reveals substantial changes in health, health access, and social stressors stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s response to it. This includes food insecurity, along with disparities by race, ethnicity, gender, and more.
February 21, 2024
The Blueprint and members of its Connecting Food and Health project team of Workgroup 4: SNAP & WIC Enrollment advocated for the inclusion of food and nutrition supports as part of the Regional Accountable Entity Contracts for the Accountable Care Collaborative Phase III. The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance recently released the draft contracts, and we’re pleased that they included several of our collective recommendations. We’ll lead various opportunities to advocate that these supports remain a part of the final contracts and that Regional Accountable Entities are made more explicitly responsible for their members’ food and nutrition access.
February 8, 2024
During Black History Month, we want to celebrate and spotlight the legacy of Black activists who led national efforts for food justice with lasting impacts on children and adults. The often-vilified Black Panther Party, civil rights leaders, and other advocates catalyzed changes in U.S. public policy to better address hunger in communities – particularly for people of color who were systematically excluded and discriminated against, causing them to endure unjust hardships because they were not white.
Did you know that the Black Panthers established the first free breakfast program for children? Learn a little bit about how their community-driven response influenced significant reform of our national school meal programs.
January 31, 2024
Colorado's summer meals program seeks sponsors, sites, and state partners to continue ensuring that Colorado children and teenagers can access healthy meals during the summer break. Sites provide youth 0 -18 years old with no-cost, nutritious meals that fuel their minds and bodies for healthy and active living, academic success, and reaching their full potential in life.
January 25, 2024
After diving into the network’s input and having many internal conversations, we’re ready to share our new framework for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger! While our vision will remain the same, the Blueprint will have a more intentional focus on activating its statewide network to collectively achieve food sovereignty for everyone living in Colorado.
Find out more about where we’re headed – including our big goals and commitments — and what’s next on our transformation journey.
