Problem Solving and Social Justice with Cathy Snyder

By: Ana Melikian, Ph.D. | Posted in: Podcast Episodes | November 11th, 2022

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“We will never say we’re going to solve hunger—that’s a much bigger issue tied with many layers of public and social policy. What we’re going to do is not let really good food go to waste while people need it.”
Cathy Snyder

Cathy joins us today to discuss food insecurity, poverty, and how the Rolling Harvest Food Rescue movement is alleviating food waste and hunger in the country.

She shares how she became aware of what poverty and food insecurity really look like in the country. She describes the events that led to the founding of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue and explains the importance of dialogue in solving problems.

She also elaborates on how movements like Rolling Harvest create a ripple effect and highlights how alleviating food insecurity benefits society entirely.

This week on The Mindset Zone:

How Cathy became aware of the realities of food insecurity, hunger, and poverty in the country
The first steps Cathy took toward improving the food pantry she served
Creating and innovating the Rolling Harvest Food Rescue model
How food is spoiled and wasted in the fields
How dialogue creates, sustains, and improves solutions to problems
What it takes to create a more sustainable food system for everyone
The value of nutritional education
What gleaning organizations are and how to find them
Overcoming the lack of awareness about food insecurity
The Rolling Harvest take on food justice and equity

The Guest:

Cathy Snyder is the Founder and Executive Director of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit gleaning organization. After a decade of working a sales career in broadcasting, Cathy began her social impact journey and awakened to the depth of food insecurity while volunteering at a food pantry in New Hope, PA. Since then, what started as Cathy’s efforts to connect farms and food pantries has grown into Rolling Harvest, a vibrant network of volunteers, farms, food producers, and hunger relief sites. Through effective delivery and distribution of local food producers’ surplus, Rolling Harvest Food Rescue increases access to donated fresh produce and other healthy foods to hunger-relief sites that serve at-risk, food-insecure populations—including domestic violence shelters, low-income senior centers, children and family homeless shelters, and others.