May 1, 2024
With equity as a core value, the Blueprint is committed to ongoing learning and self-reflection as an organization that’s regenerative and actively working to reverse historical inequities, particularly as it relates to food justice and sovereignty. Our team is kicking off an assessment to evaluate our internal processes and outcomes through an equity lens. Our first step in this process, identified by our team, prioritized co-crafting a broader equity statement with our land acknowledgment built into it.
April 30, 2024
The Blueprint, with support from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and Colorado Department of Education, updated its child nutrition story map this spring. The online resource was initiated by Workgroup #5 and made publicly available to help maximize federal child nutrition programs across the state. It maps out the current state of the Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in Colorado.
April 29, 2024
The Blueprint and partners thank the Biden-Harris Administration for their recent announcement of 141 new bold commitments as part of the Call to Action for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. As part of their National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, we hope the Administration will consider the unique needs of rural, frontier, and micro-communities, particularly their challenges to accessing federal funds.
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.
January 24, 2024
Congress passed a bill last Thursday to avoid a government shutdown, but their new continuing resolution does not provide full funding for WIC, federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
Find out what’s at stake for Colorado families and communities — and how you can take action to protect WIC in the federal budget.
January 11, 2024
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously once said, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education, and culture for their minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” On Monday, January 15, we will honor the civil rights leader who dedicated and gave his life to advancing social justice across the United States.
King fought for civil rights for all people in the face of systemic racism, oppression, ignorance, and violence. And his legacy reaches far beyond the civil rights movement, including food justice and other intersecting issues around hunger.
January 9, 2024
The health and well-being of approximately 25,000 Colorado families are in jeopardy if Congress does not sufficiently fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which supports young children and pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum adults.
Right now, the U.S. Senate and House appropriations bills do not fully fund the national program, meaning there could be a $1 billion shortfall in 2024. The current continuing resolution that provides funding for WIC is scheduled to expire on Friday, Jan. 19.
December 15, 2023
As 2023 comes to an end, let’s take a moment to reflect on and celebrate our collective accomplishments this past year. By working together, there’s evidence that we’re all truly transforming Colorado’s food systems through community engagement and investments, policy and advocacy, data and evaluation, and increased public awareness and political will. See a snapshot of what we have collectively accomplished in the last 12 months.
December 14, 2023
The Blueprint is getting ready for the 2024 state legislative session – and we’re teaming up with Nourish Colorado to ensure students have enough time to eat during the school day. Representative Jenny Willford (D-Adams County) plans to introduce a bill in early January to create a task force focused on looking at best practices for time to eat in school settings.
December 14, 2023
The SNAP Advocacy for the Houseless project team of Workgroup 4: SNAP & WIC Enrollment is leading efforts to advocate for the implementation of a restaurant meals program in Colorado, which would allow certain participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to use benefits to purchase prepared meals at participating restaurants and better access nutritionally balanced meals. This includes those who may struggle to buy and prepare meals in their homes like older adults, those experiencing homelessness, individuals with disabilities, and military veterans. The program also would support restaurant owners and operators by increasing revenue, in addition to growing the state’s workforce, which in turn benefits local economies and communities.
December 13, 2023
What progress have we made together? Find out in our new multi-year impact report! Covering the first four years of the Blueprint’s efforts, this report provides a comprehensive overview of our collaborative journey thus far. It showcases the collective progress we have made in achieving our five big goals and recognizes the dedicated individuals and organizations who have made it all possible.
November 30, 2023
What else did we learn from our network during the input phase of the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s yearlong transformation journey? Watch a video message from Dolores Ramírez, our Executive Director of Vision, to find out more about the key findings and opportunities, which will be instrumental as we begin developing the Blueprint’s new framework. You also can read the full report from our strategic planning partner, Point B(e) Strategies.
November 30, 2023
The Blueprint invests in local communities to increase healthy food access for everyone living in our state. We provide accessible funding opportunities and distribute grants to support community-based organizations, particularly those traditionally overlooked for funding, who are leading day-to-day work in their local areas and neighborhoods.
We recently contracted with Alarus Development International to conduct a thorough evaluation of the Food Pantry Assistance Grant program’s 2022 - 2023 funding cycle, which distributed $2,351,000 to 142 grantees serving diverse communities across Colorado. Find out more about the most notable findings from their report.
November 29, 2023
The Blueprint’s State Policy Committee recently voted to endorse the Healthy Drinks in Kid’s Meal strategy, expressing support for the recommendation to ensure the automatic beverage that comes with a kids’ meal is a healthy one. The Healthy Beverage Partnership is a collaborative effort of local public health agencies and community partners to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases and address health inequities by supporting municipal-level sugary drink reduction policies across Colorado.
November 21, 2023
Colorado children, especially those in rural communities, will have more access to adequate, nutritious foods next summer, thanks to the actions of state lawmakers and advocates during the special legislative session.
After advancing from both the Senate and House of Representatives, Senate Bill 23B-002 will be signed into law by Governor Polis sometime next week. The legislation supports Colorado in implementing a new federally funded program for school-age children and their families to purchase needed groceries during the summer months.
November 14, 2023
With Gov. Jared Polis’ call for a special legislative session from November 17 - 19, state lawmakers will tackle another urgent issue besides property taxes – ensuring Colorado children, especially those in rural communities, can access adequate, nourishing foods during summer break in 2024.
Learn more about the Summer EBT Nutrition bill and how you can take action.
November 2, 2023
Since 1990, Congress has authorized an annual presidential proclamation that designates the month of November as Native American Heritage Month. It officially recognizes Indigenous peoples as the country’s original inhabitants and for their essential contributions to the United States. November was selected due to its cultural significance as the month when their traditional harvest season ends.
The Blueprint stands in solidarity with Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations. This month and throughout the year, we want to bring attention to the culture, history, traditions, and achievements of the original inhabitants and their descendants of our lands – and their sacred connection to the land and its resources. We also acknowledge the challenges that Indigenous communities continue to face today due to genocide and displacement by colonialism and U.S. public policy.
November 2, 2023
The steering committee of the Healthy School Meals for All campaign is excited to announce its 41 community-based organization partners who will receive grants to support their work. Their efforts will focus on continuing to uplift the new school meals program, now available in every eligible school district across Colorado.
November 1, 2023
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its Household Food Security in the United States in 2022 report last week. While most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for healthy living, about 1 in 8 households across America struggled with hunger last year. National rates were higher for those who live in rural areas, as well as for those who identify as Black or Latine. In Colorado, the report showed that hunger is decreasing, but nearly 1 in 11 households (8.9%) still report not having reliable access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious foods.
October 19, 2023
We recently wrapped up the second phase of the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s yearlong transformation and strategic planning process, where we gathered input from our community of network partners. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts about the Blueprint and how it can evolve to better serve our Colorado communities!
Now, we’re delving into all of the information with our strategic planning partners at Point b(e) Strategies to better understand what you, our community, collectively think the Blueprint should focus on as we look to the future. So far, the early findings are centered around five areas – much of which already align with the Blueprint’s vision of a Colorado where everyone who lives here can access the food they choose, where they want it, and when they need it.
October 5, 2023
The Blueprint and partners are advocating for more time to eat in Colorado schools – and seek advocacy support from other network partners! They’ll soon submit a letter to Colorado’s State Board of Education requesting that lunch periods be included in instructional time since research shows the positive impacts on student learning, development, and overall well-being.
October 4, 2023
Last week, the Blueprint team joined staff from Nourish Colorado for a half-day of interactive learning about language justice from the Community Language Cooperative. Language justice ensures there’s space for participants to speak in the language that they feel most comfortable using. It’s a key practice to build community power and engage directly with those who have historically been left out and oppressed like non-English speakers.
October 4, 2023
While Congress avoided a government shutdown for at least 45 days, the full federal budget for 2024 remains up for debate and includes annual funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Last week, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen led Colorado’s Democratic delegation in urging Congressional leadership to fully fund WIC.
September 21, 2023
By supporting the Healthy School Meals for All program with a statewide marketing and outreach campaign, we're on a mission to transform the lives of Colorado public students and their families – one nourishing school meal at a time. To ensure every child has the right to access nutritious and delicious meals, we formed a steering committee of diverse community members and pledged $370,000 for community-based organizations to support and actively promote the new program locally.
