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IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING FUNDING

Hello, partners. We have another update regarding the Dane County budget process and our request for your help in securing funding for the local food support network. As you are aware, no funding for this was identified in the first draft of the 2025 budget.

 

The county has now set the schedule for board committees to meet and work on the budget. There are four relevant committees where we encourage your participation either in person or virtually – please see the schedule and message points below. Note that you don't need to attend all of these meetings but instead view this as a menu of options to choose from to engage in the process. The October 9th budget public hearing by Personnel and Finance is no doubt likely the most centralized point for people to gather and provide advocacy, but based on our knowledge of the process, we encourage you to engage in these individual committee processes as early as possible.

 

In addition to addressing the committee processes, Second Harvest has laid some groundwork with the media to drive public awareness of the county's important role in fighting food insecurity. Here are links to recent mentions about the lack of funding in the budget:


Thank you again for lending your voice to this important effort and for your partnership in serving Dane County neighbors.


Upcoming Board Committee Meetings:

  • Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee - linkage between Farm to Foodbank and the Dane County Food Council
    • September 26, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 8, 2024 at 5:30 pm
  • Executive Committee - help oversee the Department of Administration which administered Farm to Foodbank
    • September 23, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 7, 2024 at 5:30 pm
  • Health and Human Needs Commitee - good fit given our good arguments about basic life needs - just like housing - and this committee funds all of the county's housing work
    • September 26, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 1, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 7, 2024 at 6:30 pm
  • Personnel and Finance Committee - also helps oversee the Department of Administration
    • October 7, 2024 (joint meeting with Madison Board of Estimates) at 5:30 pm
    • October 15, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 21, 2024 at 5:30 pm
    • October 22, 2024 at 5:30 pm


Message Points for Comments

General:

  • Members of the County Board may assert they are "legally unable to fund Second Harvest." Actually, there are two ways the county can continue to provide dollars for Farm to Foodbank:
    • Dane County has remaining unspent federal ARP (American Rescue Plan) dollars. We should feel empowered to ask county officials how much is left unallocated and whether the funds left over are accounted for in this budget or if they will be awarded through some other process. In short, the same funding source that supported Farm to Foodbank in recent years remains available. This is a choice county officials are making - not to provide unspent ARP money for local food.
    • The Wisconsin Counties Association has issued a legal opinion that says counties can allocate tax dollars for food pantries. Dane County lawyers may not agree with this opinion but what is the risk of funding food this year while asking the state for further guidance/clarification? It's highly unlikely someone is going to sue Dane County for keeping people in need fed. This conservative legal interpretation risks urgent needs being unmet while lawyers squabble. Let's meet the needs while seeking to provide reassurance on legal clarity from folks like the Wisconsin Attorney General. (If the county's legal interpretation is applied to other programs the county funds for various non-profits, a number of exisiting programs would experience devastating service reductions).
  • The demand for emergency food assistance is higher than it's ever been and this need has been steadily growing since Covid. (An average increase of 30% in 2023 alone, and month-over-month, 2024 is up another 20%.)
  • Our pantries need food. If this funding is cut, pantries will be forced to buy more food, straining their already challenged operations and budgets.
  • Less food could well lead to reduced offerings, new limitations for families, and perhaps even fewer hours pantries are able to be open.
  • Food insecurity is real and disproportionately affects people of color.  Food insecurity is an issue of equity.
  • Food support stabilizes families. It's a matter of nourishment, yes, but also a matter of helping families manage tight budgets when it comes to housing, healthcare and education.
  • Local purchasing (Farm to Foodbank) not only helps meet basic needs but it does so with fresh, healthy produce and food.
  • Farm to Foodbank illustrates what it means to buy local. Dollars the county has provided go straight to dozens of local growers. This program has been their livelihood - for years.
  • Farm to Foodbank contributes to a healthy Dane County economy. The economic impact of every dollar spent on local agriculture is $1.60 back into the community.
  • Dane County has invested a great deal into stabilizing housing. Appropriately, leaders have discussed housing as a matter of basic human rights and equity. The same holds true for food.
  • Food supplied by this program supports the individual and family direct service delivery work done by Dane County Joining Forces for Families and others across the community.
  • Farm to Foodbank is proven to work. It exemplifies a community taking care of its own.
  • We ask for funding for this effort to be continued next year and beyond.


Impact Data Points from funding via Dane County:

  • In fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024), $5.5 million were provided via Dane County for SHF food purchasing:
  • 11% of all the food Second Harvest received (including donated) was purchased with Dane funds
  • 132 partner organizations received food purchased with Dane funds
  • SHF purchased food from 37 local vendors using Dane funds
  • The food purchased with Dane funds helped provide 2.6 million meals (3.1 million pounds)
  • 40% of Second Harvest's food purchases were made with Dane funding

Since the pandemic relief funding started in 2020, $31.6 million in Dane/ARPA funds provided to SHF have resulted in:

  • 14.3 million meals for neighbors (17.2 million pounds)
  • Food for 223 partner organizations
  • Purchasing from 80 local vendors
  • An annual average of 3.44 million pounds of food procured locally

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