Council Subcommittees

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

Committee Lead:  Paul Birkbeck

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.


For more information, please contact Paul Birkbeck at pbirkbec@utah.gov.

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

Committee Lead:  Carrie Durward, PhD.

Members:  Carrie Durward, Sean Damitz, Laura Holtrop Kohl, Adel Pincock, Dana Williamsen, Tina Murray, Megan Fitzklein, Jennifer Garner, Nelda Ault-Dyslin, Sarah Elizabeth Garza-Levitt, Suzanne Lewis, Karlee Kump

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.

Objective:  Connect stakeholders and programs for housing and nutrition support to streamline resource promotion for individuals facing insecurity in both areas, also to gain understanding of the needs for those experiencing housing and nutrition insecurity to provide informed recommendations to the Food Security Council.

Committee Leads:  Lea Palmer, Peggy Green

Members: Katie Mazzie, Jonathon Walters, Gina Cornia, Karen McCandless, Kristin Hoch, Palak Gupta


Ongoing Projects: develop statewide goals and messaging related to food security and nutrition education; coordinate statewide efforts to address food security; ensure that any state programs receiving federal funds from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service provide consistent and coordinated nutrition education messaging; promote programs and activities that contribute to healthy eating and active lifestyles; promote programs and activities that advance Utah food products; and disseminate the statewide goals and messaging developed under Subsection (2) to state agencies.


For more information, please contact Lea Palmer at lea.palmer@usu.edu or Peggy Green at peggy.green@utah.gov.

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, Paul Birkbeck, 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

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.


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

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, Kathleen Britton, 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, Paul Birkbeck, 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.