Get inspired by the amazing Bess Hauser, who was an honoree at our Food Power 2014 event in the Bronx, NY. 

 

Bess has spent the last five years actively engaged in her Brooklyn community through the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, the Brooklyn Food Coalition, Brad Lander's Participatory Budgeting Process and extensive involvement in parent leadership at PS32 in the Gowanus. Bess has worked tirelessly to create spaces for diverse parent leadership so no parent's voice is left out. When her daughter arrived at PS32, chocolate milk was served at every meal and there was no fresh water source in the cafeteria. To change this, she founded the Nutrition Committee which has not only accomplished its’ initial goals, but has added a salad bar, added fresh water sources in the portable classrooms, formed partnerships with Brooklyn Food Coalition and Food Fight and has improved standards for food at school events. Thanks to the work of a number of parents in this capacity, PS32 received an Excellence in School Wellness award from the DOE in 2014.

 

As an extension of the Nutrition Committee, Bess helped create and oversee a garden at PS32 which won the Citywide Golden Apple Award from DSNY this year. The garden provides hands-on curriculum based lessons that help connect the diverse students at the school to the food that they eat. Bess sees her work as part of a larger community of parents and activists who are influencing and making decisions that positively impact people and the environment in Brooklyn.

 

 

MomsRising hosted Food Power 2014 in the Bronx, NY, alongside the amazing food justice community organization The BLK Projek during their annual Not Just Talk conference. Two hundred people from around NYC came out to participate!

 

Highlights from the conference include the MomsRising.org-hosted brunch and gathering of fierce food justice moms working to protect school meals, increase access to healthy food, and end junk food marketing to children. We also honored members who have been on the ground, and online, spreading the word about healthy food.