By Noah Kaufman
Updated September 30, 2014
Credit: © Bill Bettencourt

Food & Wine favorite Tom Colicchio is not just a remarkable chef and television food judge, he is also one of America’s loudest advocates in the fight to end hunger and improve our food system. Not as flashy as drones and the military, food is an issue that often gets overlooked at the ballot box and therefore ignored by politicians. But that unfortunate fact is why Colicchio helped form Food Policy Action. He says that “as soon as one legislator loses their job for the way they vote on hunger issues and food issues, when that happens we’ll send a clear message…that we have a food movement and it’s coming for you.”

FPA has been conducting campaigns and raising money to make food security a more prominent issue in elections, and their efforts seem to be working. In the last several years, the first substantial changes to school nutrition since Bill Clinton was in office became law.

As many as 17 million American kids aren’t food secure and eat their only healthy meal of the day at school. But for supposed budget reasons and concerns that they might promote a "nanny state," ideas like a fruit and vegetable requirement or substituting whole grains for processed flour have been a bogeyman for many members of Congress or congressional candidates.

With the midterm elections less than six weeks away, issues like nutrition standards and access to food have been decidedly put on the back burner, but they still matter to millions of families. FPA wants to make sure those families have their voices heard. To lend your voice or your donation to the fight against hunger in America, or just to find out how your member of Congress has voted on food policy, visit the FPA website.

We export more food in America than any other country in the world. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to feed our own first.