Just a Bite Ohio Association of Foodbanks

With this year’s tax season ending, our Just a Bite host, Sarah, interviewed two experts to discuss the need for an equitable tax code and progressive revenue in Ohio and to highlight the important solutions to make that happen.  
Sarah first talks with Bailey Williams, a tax researcher from Policy Matters Ohio, who answers questions like, why are taxes and revenue so important? What targeted tax relief can we establish for families? And why is eliminating the state income tax such a harmful policy for Ohioans with low and moderate incomes? 
After speaking with Bailey, Sarah talks with Benisha Wright, an advocate and directly impacted Ohioan who talks about what the child tax credit in 2021 meant for her family and countless other Ohio families. She shares that since that tax relief has expired and inflation has only continued to grow, she is increasingly concerned about her ability to make ends meet. We also explore the benefit cliff that she and so many others have experienced as they grow in their careers and earn raises for their hard work, the difficult catch-22 that they are put in to balance their new income and expenses without the support of benefit programs. 
If you would like to take action to push our elected officials to take up equitable tax policies, please share your Child Tax Credit story with us through this form. You can also call on your U.S. Senators to pass a bipartisan child tax credit here. 
References: 
Listen to the press conference for the introduction of the Thriving Families Tax Credit, with Benisha’s remarks starting at 4:29 mark.  
 
See the media coverage from the press conference and coverage highlighting the Thriving Families Tax Credit: 

In this episode, Audrey sits down to talk about a wide variety of topics concerning women’s health, livelihood, and the changes still to be made as we celebrate Women’s History Month. Our expert for this episode is the incredible Elizabeth Brown who currently serves at the President and CEO for the YWCA of Columbus, Ohio, a nonprofit organization whose mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Elizabeth previous served as council member for the city of Columbus for seven years where her work included broadening access to opportunity and strengthening women and families. We encourage you to read Liz’s full bio here to learn more about all the incredible work she has done.  
Thank you, Liz, for joining us and for shining light on such meaningful topics. We’d also like to thank Hope at OAF who previously worked with Liz and can be heard throughout the podcast, participating in the conversation with us!  
 
References: 
Check out Liz full bio from her time as a council member and about the work she is currently doing at the YWCA Columbus, Ohio.  
Call to action for the YWCA, here.  
Learn more about period poverty from leaders in the field like, Aunt Flo, here.  
Although we do not believe the Free the Tampon website has been active since 2020, we still wanted to share as it was a cool part of Liz’s story!  

This Black History Month, Just a Bite hosts, Hope Lane-Gavin and Chloe Meyers, interview our great partners through the Ohio CAN program. Our hosts and our friends from the Regenerative Farmer Collective talked about the dichotomy of farming: how painful yet healing it can be as Black farmers to continue to work among the earth and grow as their ancestors did. They shared stories about how the joys and challenges as Black farmers, how they mentor and support one another, and what more needs to be done to rectify the horrific wrongs that white Americans and Europeans did when they kidnapped the first Africans and brought them to Virginia as slaves in 1619. We still see the lasting impact slavery has had on Black Americans to this day. Take a listen to this emotional, powerful conversation as we celebrate this Black History Month.  
 
References: 
Learn more from our guests and support their farms: 

Tia Stuart of Narrow Way Farm 
Sharifa Tomlinson of Arrowrock Farm an Urban Sanctuary 


Watch Sharifa share how Ohio CAN was beneficial for her and her farm 

Food assistance programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) play a pivotal role as the primary line of defense against food insecurity for numerous individuals. However, gaining access to SNAP benefits and related programs poses challenges not only for everyday Americans and Ohioans but also for those currently incarcerated. In Ohio, individuals within the correctional facilities preparing for release within 30 days can benefit from SNAP INreach, a program facilitated by Ohio's foodbank network. Holding the SNAP outreach contract for nearly 15 years, Ohio's foodbank network strives to extend support. Presently, eight out of our twelve network foodbanks are actively engaged, with four of them consistently conducting monthly corrections-in-reach. As of this recording, Ohio has 28 state-run corrections facilities, with SNAP outreach workers going into 25 of 28 facilities once per month to assist interested inmates to be released within 30 days with their SNAP applications if they so choose. Our network goal in 2024 is to have presence in all 28 state-run corrections facilities. To explore and talk about this critical work for post release success, your Just a Bite hosts have a conversation with our dedicated colleagues, Bailey Clearly-Foeller with Mid-Ohio Food Collective and Robert Zohfeld with Shared Harvest Foodbank who are doing this critical work every day. 
References: 
For more information on SNAP and the impact it has on Ohioans, check out our previous episodes titled, SNAP Outreach: Thoughts from the Field and our more recent episode titled, Ohioans on SNAP Share Their Stories. 
 
To hear more on the impact of incarcerations, check out our episode titled, Re-entry after incarceration where we hear directly from an impacted Ohioan who is now a wonderful colleague of ours, Mary Evans with the Foodbank, Inc in Dayton, Ohio. This particular episode focuses on the “-isms” that play a major part in stability including food security and recidivism rates.  
 
For those who are formerly incarcerated, Mary shared a resource that helps connect, lift up, and consult fellow system-impacted individuals, From Prison Cells to PhD.  
 

In this episode, Sarah talks with two amazing partners the Ohio Association of Foodbanks works with through the Ohio Community + Agriculture + Nutrition (CAN) Program, funded through the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program. Jamie Pritchard joins us from WIT Farm and Walt Bonham joins from the Food Lab and the Richland Gro-Op. We talk about the importance of local food systems, the historical context that makes it difficult for BIPOC farmers and other farmers left out of USDA programs to scale and grow, and how local farms are innovatively collaborating with one another to expand their reach and impact.  
 
Thank you, Walt and Jamie, for joining us and thank you to Carrie at OAF and Ainsley at Ohio Department of Agriculture for listening in and participating in the conversation with us!  
 
References: 
Check out Jamie’s family-owned business, WIT Farm at their website, on Instagram and Facebook.  
 
Check out Walt’s business, The Food Lab, and the Richland Gro-Op. You can find the Richland Gro-Op on Instagram and Facebook and the Food Lab on Facebook. 

Food insecurity doesn’t stand alone and is simply a symptom of one or more -isms: racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, capitalism. What you may not know, however, is that other symptoms of these -isms include un-or-underemployment, lack of affordable housing, poor health, and crime. Violence and crime are disproportionately higher in areas and communities with poor public education, lack of community investment and economic opportunity. Additionally, these communities are often over policed, poverty stricken and traumatized and crime is often committed to ensure necessities are met or so that the pain is eased. Incarceration is rarely the answer for those who just need opportunity. Incarceration does not alleviate the systemic challenges individuals faced prior to incarceration; in fact, it fuels it by perpetuating disparities. To explore and talk about this vast, nuanced, and interconnected problem, your Just a Bite hosts have a conversation with Professor Karen Benton at Clark State College to talk about the context and connection between access to basic needs and recidivism rates, why food and other basic needs are so critical once someone is released, and what innovative programs are available in Ohio to support system-impacted individuals as they are release. After talking with Karen, you will hear us speak with Mary Evans, Re-entry Manager at the Foodbank, Inc in Dayton and returning citizen herself to talk about her experience being system-impacted and to share her expertise when it comes to supporting folks post-release.   
 
References: 
Check out Re-Entry Stories and West Dayton Stories produced by Mary Evans at WYSO.  
Mary is also the co-founder of The Journalism Lab, a collaborative that empowers citizen correspondents to learn the foundations of journalism and report on what is happening in their local communities.  
“It’s my mission to give my community a voice” by Mary Evans, in Dayton Daily News.  
For those who are formerly incarcerated, Mary shared a resource that helps connect, lift up, and