On July 1, the Summer 2025 cohort of the Advocacy Leadership Academy wrapped up its final session—and with it, we’re proud to celebrate the graduation of 12 emerging community leaders.
Over the past eight weeks, these participants built power together—growing their advocacy skills, deepening their understanding of policy, and expanding their knowledge around campaign strategy and power-building. They brought their unique perspectives and commitment to equity into every session.
For Coloradans of all identities, food is not just nourishment; it’s a celebration of culture, an expression of joy, and a tool for resistance and cultural preservation. For immigrant and LGBTQIA2+ communities, food has long served as both a lifeline and a love language—a way to hold on to heritage, resist marginalization, and cultivate community. There is no better place to witness that intersection than at the table.
Access to nutritious food is critical for young children and families, yet Trump’s 2026 federal budget proposal would slash benefits to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), particularly the monthly fruit and vegetable benefit for children and pregnant participants.
This Juneteenth, we celebrate the day that marked the end of slavery in the United States as well as reflect on the deep connections between racial justice and food justice. Join us in uplifting Black voices — applauding their leadership and successes, and honoring their resilience and perseverance in the face of ongoing adversity within and beyond our food system.
The 2025 state legislative session brought some notable wins, valuable lessons, and new momentum for our food justice movement. In our recap, you’ll see which laws were enacted, which were stalled, and what’s ahead as we continue building a policy and advocacy landscape rooted in equity and community power.
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.
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.
