Is Michelle Wu America’s Food Justice Mayor?
The new leader of Boston is embarking on the most ambitious food policy agenda the city has ever seen, and one that could serve as an example for cities nationwide.
By Steve Holt
Civil Eats
March 9, 2022
Excerpt:
Beyond signing her name to food-related policies, Wu has ardently educated herself about Boston’s food justice and urban agriculture landscape and supported its growth, advocates say. As a young city hall staffer, she shadowed a dietician in charge of food access programming at Boston Medical Center and, in the early days of the pandemic, helped connect an Eastie Farm food distribution program with unreached families in need.
“We’re thrilled for Mayor Wu to be in this position,” says Erin McAleer, executive director of Project Bread, a nonprofit that addresses food insecurity in Massachusetts and worked with Wu while she was a city councilor to increase awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, among Boston residents. “She understands food insecurity as a systemic issue, not an individual failing,” said McAleer. “She recognizes the power of policy change, but she also recognizes the importance of community-informed solutions.”
Besides marketing SNAP benefits to more low-income Bostonians, McAleer said the Wu administration has the opportunity to address food insecurity by addressing the economic foundations of hunger: the rising cost of housing and childcare, and the widening wealth gap between the city’s richest and poorest residents, among others.
