Tag: Food Insecurity

Line of backpacks

Weekend Food Backpack Program Supports Taylor County Youth Through UF/IFAS Extension

by Lori Wiggins
January 22, 2026

Each week, children in Taylor County receive nutritious food to help sustain them during weekends, school breaks, and other out-of-school periods through the Weekend Food Backpack Program, operated through the UF/IFAS Extension Service and supported ... READ MORE

Category: Community Volunteers, Health & Nutrition, Home Management, Relationships & Family, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension,
Tags: Children, Family, Food Insecurity, Taylor County, UF/IFAS Extension, Volunteer, Weekend Backpack Program

UF/IFAS study offers critical insights to encourage sustainable agriculture, protect Florida grasslands, wetlands

by Lourdes Mederos
January 31, 2024

The term ‘sustainable agriculture’ involves boosting food production while conserving habitats and natural resources and reducing reliance on pesticides and fertilizers. While experts agree there is still much to learn to support ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Forests, Livestock, Natural Resources, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Agroecology, Archbold Biological Station Buck Island Ranch, Climate Change, Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Ecosystem Services, Everglades, FLREC, Food Insecurity, Food Security, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Grasslands, Jiangxiao Qiu, Ranch, Sustainable Agricultural, Sustainable Agricultural Intensification, Sustainable Agriculture, Wetlands, Yuxi Guo

Peanut Butter Challenge tops last year’s collection

by Kirsten Romaguera Rabin
November 28, 2023

Nearly 20,000 jars to fill food pantries across the state ahead of the holidays   For the second straight year, the winner of the statewide Peanut Butter Challenge is… Santa Rosa County, with a whopping 1,970 jars for a total of 2,485 ... READ MORE

Category: Community Volunteers, Events, Health & Nutrition, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Community Events, Donations, Food Insecurity, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Challenge, Santa Rosa County, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Extension Duval County, UF/IFAS Extension Orange County, Wakulla County

The Peanut Butter Challenge—It’s Good to Go Nutty!

by Andra Johnson
October 2, 2023

Every year in October, people all around Florida go nutty for a good cause.  It’s the Peanut Butter Challenge—an annual food drive to fight hunger. Throughout October, people are encouraged to donate unopened jars of peanut butter to participating ... READ MORE

Category: Events, Health & Nutrition
Tags: Alan And Cathy Hitchcock Field And Fork Pantry, Florida Peanut Federation, Florida Peanut Producers Association, Food Banks, Food Insecurity, Food Pantries, Judy Corbus, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Challenge, Washington County
Cans of tuna fish and jars of peanut butter sit on a wooden shelf

The Effects of Food Insecurity

by Olivia Zugay
September 29, 2023

Written by Samantha Walter-Cano, Edited by Olivia Zugay Human Rights Month: Food Insecurity With the rise in prices and the impact of COVID-19 over the past few years, access to food has become harder for many around the world. This December ... READ MORE

Category: Community Volunteers, Food Safety, Health & Nutrition, Money Matters
Tags: Donate Peanut Butter, Food Drive, Food Insecurity, Food Pantry, Healthy Eating, Peanut Butter Challenge, Treasure Coast Food Bank, Volunteering

Learn to grow food locally, UF/IFAS’ award-winning urban food production short course is back

by Lourdes Mederos
September 4, 2023

Communities are hungry for urban food production. Engagement continues at an all-time high when there is opportunity to grow food in containers, hydroponic systems, rooftops, community gardens and any available green space. Why? Urban ... READ MORE

Category: UF/IFAS
Tags: Best Management Practices, Biodiversity, Community Cohesion, Community Gardens, Conservation, Food Handling, Food Insecurity, Food Security, Green Space, Improving Ecosystem Services, Jiangxiao Qiu, Lorna Bravo, National Association Of County Agricultural Agents, Nature-based Solutions, Post Urban Agriculture Harvesting, School Gardens, Sustainability, Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Technology Integration In Urban Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Broward County, UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research Education Center, Urban Agriculture, Urban Agriculture Industry, Urban Farmers, Urban Farming, Urban Food Production, Urban Food Production Systems

Miami-Dade 4-H teens head to Washington D.C. to showcase skills in agricultural technology

by Lourdes Mederos
January 26, 2023

Last summer, 4-H teens from Miami-Dade County worked on a five-week apprenticeship to address food insecurity by growing food in unconventional spaces in Overtown. Now, two of the six interns will take what they learned to the Ignite ... READ MORE

Category: 4-H & Youth, Curriculum, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Agriscience, Agritech, Agrotechnology, Cooperative Extension, Florida 4-H, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Food Insecurity, Food Security, Hydroponics, Ignite By 4-H National Conference, Indoor Vertical Farming, Miami-Dade Count Y Public Schools, STEM, Teens, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, UF/IFAS Extension Miami-Dade County, Urban Food Farming, USDA, Vertical Farming, Workforce Development

Research by FRE associate professor Di Fang cited in White House Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. 

by Alena Poulin
December 15, 2022

The Biden Administration released the White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022, citing research by FRE associate professor Di Fang.   Fang’s research, conducted while at the University of Arkansas ... READ MORE

Category: Health & Nutrition, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Covid-19, Food And Resource Economics, Food And Resource Economics Research, Food Insecurity, Food Is Our Middle Name, Mental Health, Policy

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