Council Subcommittees

Communications
Objective:  Clearly communicate the Food Security Council initiatives and resources to legislators, state and local government, community organizations, and those in need.

Committee Lead:  Frank Vega

Members:  Natalie McHale, Caroline Hargraves, Ellie Brownstein, Heather Crockett, Jennifer Bateman, Kurt Clodfelter, LaCee Jimenez, Maria Fernanda Rivera, Shelly Scoresby, Jocelin Gibson

Ongoing Projects:  Public website improvement, annual report, social media, collect subcommittee information, statewide data on food and nutrition security, quarterly press releases. See the June 2024 committee update


For more information, please contact Frank Vega at fvega@utah.gov.
  

Food Recovery
Objective:  Facilitate the collaboration of food recovery efforts in Utah and ways to reduce the need for food recovery.

Committee Lead:  Carrie Durward, PhD.

MembersCarrie Durward, Sean Damitz, Laura Holtrop Kohl, Adel Pincock, Dana Williamsen, Tina Murray, Megan Fitzklein, Jennifer Garner, Jared Tenney, Nelda Ault-Dyslin, Sarah Elizabeth Garza-Levitt, Suzanne Lewis, Karlee Kump, Soni Scheig, Carissa Christensen, Abby Thompson, Carlos Jimenez, Dani Perez, Temis Taylor, Erica Saunders, Kurt Clodfelter

Ongoing Projects:  Collaborate around food waste reduction efforts to address food insecurity; share best practices for food waste reduction; maximize and leverage member expertise around food waste to address food insecurity; collaborate as a statewide coalition of partners to be more competitive in large-scale funding opportunities.


For more information, please contact Carrie Durward at carrie.durward@usu.edu.

Nourished Communities
Objective:  Build awareness and understanding of the experiences and needs of Utah communities, increase collaboration of efforts serving Utah communities, continuous improvement and systematic thinking to sustainably support Utah communities with best practices.


Committee Leads:  Lea Palmer

Members: Katie Mazzie, Jonathon Walters, Gina Cornia, Karen McCandless, Kristin Hoch, Palak Gupta, Peggy Green, Cara Murray, Natalie Mchale, Jake fitisemanu, Habiba Nur, Shannon Jones, Casey Coombs, JoDell Geilmann-Parke, Alysia Ducuara, Lily Zavala, Sarah Elizabeth Levitt, Rebekah Anderson, Heather Crockett, Sadie Wilde, Rachel Tibolla, Gene Smith, Melissa Hall, Carrie Durward, Nasser Sharareh, Abiodun Atoloye, Shannon Peterson


Ongoing Projects

The committee has formed six initial action groups to address various community needs. These groups focus on:

  1. Nutrition and housing insecurity
  2. Nutrition security for refugee, immigrant, and migrant worker communities
  3. Nutrition security and traditional wellness for Indigenous people in Utah
  4. Nutrition security among college students (Zero Hunger Campus initiative)
  5. Nourished families
  6. Nourished youth

Each group targets a specific area to ensure a comprehensive approach to improving community well-being.



For more information, please contact Lea Palmer at lea.palmer@usu.edu.

Mapping
Objective:  Gather data about state needs and resources, develop a reliable mapping system, establish a sustainable map updating plan, and provide recommendations to address gaps between need and available resources.

Committee Lead:  Lea Palmer

Members:  Kaylie Lake, Maria Schwarz, Rachel Bowman, Natalie McHale, Lily Zavala, Frank Vega, Nasser Sharareh, Hannah Martin, Sarah Elizabeth Garza-Levitt, Laura Holtrop Kohl, Natalie Loots, Sean Damitz, Genevieve Daly, Angelo Papastamos, Greg MacFarlane, Habiba Nur, Abiodun Atoloye, Marifer Rivera, Alysia Ducarara, Leticia Goodman, Mckinley Huefner, Kristin Hoch, Ben Chenot

Ongoing Projects:   
Developing a toolkit for addressing nutrition security at each stage of the food system; provide a data mapping system to track current efforts and gaps in nutrition security programming across the state. See the June 2024 committee update.


For more information, please contact Lea Palmer at lea.palmer@usu.edu.

Policy
Objective:  Identify policy on the local, state, federal and administrative levels that create barriers to accessing food.

Committee Lead:  Gina Cornia

Members:  Maria Schwarz, Casey Slater, Palak Gupta, Jeanette Padilla, Tom Wheatley, Sher Rowley, Hannah Martin, Georgina Griffith-Yates, Keith Mitchell, Kimberly Loveland, Laura Holtrop-Kohl, Ashley Sullivan, Janae Duncan, Sarah Adams, Abidun Atoloye, Angelo Papastamos, Cheryl Lines, Gene Smith, Habiba Nur, Jake Fitisemanu, Kurt Clodfelter, ME Hatch, Natalie McHale, Sarah Elizabeth Levitt, Shelly Scoresby, Tom Hogan, Shireen Ghorbani, Sean Damitz, Natalie Loots, Nasser Sharareh, Marifer Rivera, Kelsey Hall, Kaitlyn Reich, Heather Crockett, Greg Macfarlane, Ellie Brownstein, Ari Van De Graaf, Alysia Ducuara, Spencer Gibbons, Rachel Bowman, Paula Scott, Frank Vega, Lea Palmer, LaCee Jimenez, Kristin Hoch, Katie Mazzie, Justen Smith, Jocelin Gibson, James Toledo, Heidi LeBlanc, Craig Buttars, Clayton Beckstead, Caroline Hargraves

Ongoing Projects:  Currently selecting chairs to lead the effort in addressing  approximately 30 policy issues that could increase access to food. 


For more information, please contact Gina Cornia at cornia@uah.org.

Local Food Promotion
Objective:  Increase local food production and its availability in Utah's food insecurity programs. This includes improving transparency, supporting marketing efforts, and integrating local food into current initiatives, while building partnerships to enhance and sustain food assistance.

Committee Lead:  Natalie McHale

Members:  

Ongoing Projects:  Increase awareness of local food, promote local agricultural products, tailor resources to regional needs, support land access for producers, develop social media plan. 


For more information, please contact Natalie McHale at nmchale@utah.gov.

Evaluation
Objective:  

Committee Lead:  Palak Gupta

Members:  

Ongoing Projects:  


For more information, please contact Palak Gupta at palak.gupta@usu.edu