Gather, a Seacoast nonprofit working to end hunger and build community resilience, is joining Conservation Law Foundation’s effort to restore grant funding that was awarded through a competitive process. Gather was recently awarded $350,000 through the Environmental and Climate Justice Grant Program to scale food recovery operations, reduce waste and increase access to nutritious food for families in New Hampshire and southern Maine.
According to Gather Executive Director Anne Hayes, prior to receiving the funds, the organization was notified that the grant program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been terminated.
The program was part of a broader federal investment to combat environmental hazards and promote climate resilience and energy justice in rural, urban and tribal communities across New England.
Says Hayes, “The Thriving Communities grant would have supported the scaling of Gather’s food recovery initiative called Seacoast Waste Not, which rescues quality surplus food from participating restaurants, caterers, cafeterias, food brokers and food manufacturers across New Hampshire, southern Maine and northern Massachusetts. This recovered food would have doubled the number of well-balanced meals Gather makes and distributes to hungry residents in our region.” Hayes goes on to say, “Food waste in our landfills is a serious problem and a major source of methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In diverting this food from our overflowing landfills, Gather would have significantly decreased the amount of carbon methane emissions. Investing in food recovery is smart, strategic and cost-effective.”
According to Patte Ardizzoni, director of development and communications at Gather, the grant would have enabled a significant expansion of Gather’s food recovery efforts and would have further decreased Gather’s dependence on federal U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs for food donations, which have also been cut or reduced.
Says Ardizzoni, “The reduction and cancellations of USDA programs means that Gather will have less food to distribute while trying to serve more people in need. We are disappointed because this grant was a critical tool in building healthier, more sustainable communities.”
Ardizzoni says a portion of the funding focused on education and advocacy efforts to help the public better understand the harmful effects of food waste on the environment and how food recovery’s many benefits can counteract these outcomes.
Last month a lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Public Rights Project, and Lawyers for Good Government to restore funding for Congressionally approved Environmental Protection Agency grant programs, including the Thriving Communities program from which Gather received its award. Gather is supporting these national efforts by joining advocacy efforts and submitting information about the impact of the funding termination to an Amicus brief being submitted by Conservation Law Foundation (CLF).
Britteny Jenkins, CLF’s vice president for environmental justice, says “When our neighbors in New Hampshire or Vermont or across the country lose funding to address food insecurity, monitor air quality, or educate youth about lead exposure, we all lose. This is not just their fight. Our communities are interconnected. An attack on one is a setback for all.”
“We’re proud to stand alongside hundreds of nonprofits, municipalities and community organizations across the country advocating for the restoration of this vital program,” says Gather’s Hayes. “This is nonpartisan and about ensuring families, children, and older adults have access to the food and resources they desperately need.”
The EPA grant program was created and funded by Congress in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
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Seacoast nonprofit Gather lost a $350K EPA climate justice grant to expand food recovery and fight hunger after the program’s termination.
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