Imagine living in a state renowned for its natural beauty, healthy residents, and a vibrant economy, yet consistently grappling with persistent food insecurity. This paradox is true in Colorado, where despite decades of policy initiatives and substantial financial investments, food insecurity and poverty rates stubbornly refuse to improve. In fact, food insecurity is on the rise in Colorado according to Feeding America and the Colorado Health Institute. Food insecurity is defined by the USDA as not having the ability to access enough safe and nourishing food at all times to live a meaningful, active, and healthy life.
Trends in Colorado since 2015 are not encouraging. Statistics from Feeding America report the following food insecurity rates for Colorado over the last 10 years:
– 2015: 12.2%
– 2017: 10.6 %
– 2023: 12.7 %
Colorado poverty rates from 2000 – 2023:
These are not encouraging trends.
Currently around $87 million in federal food assistance is distributed monthly in Colorado, benefiting approximately 250,000 households and nearly 500,000 individuals across Colorado (Colorado General Assembly, 2023). On top of this, multiple state grant programs support food pantries, local food initiatives, retailers and farmers aimed at making healthy food more available in low-income neighborhoods and families.
One promising effort in Colorado is the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program, which offers local food purchasing incentives and free breakfast and lunch to all public school students. These kinds of universal school meal programs have been shown to improve kids’ health and support their learning, according to the School Nutrition Association and Centers for Disease Control. But right now, the program doesn’t have enough funding and may be cut back unless voters approve new funding in the 2025 election. Without that funding – and it’s promising outcomes – it’s likely that hunger and poverty in Colorado will remain unchanged. Just funneling additional funding into the food system is not enough, there needs to be coordinated and strategic policy change to support families and farms across the state.
My connection to these issues is personal and deeply rooted in my experiences advocating for farmland conservation and starting a small goat dairy. I vividly remember the challenging years of managing tight budgets, balancing multiple jobs, and making tough decisions around buying healthy food or paying rent. These experiences profoundly shaped my understanding of food insecurity’s harsh realities and the choices the majority of Coloradans make when trying to get by. The connection between sustainable food production, environmental stewardship, and nutrition fuels my commitment to advocating for policy solutions – not “someday,” but now.
The fact Colorado’s food security outcomes are stagnant, despite additional funding, raises urgent questions. Are there effective interventions elsewhere, and how can Colorado replicate them? Pandemic-era interventions, such as increased SNAP benefits and non-congregate meal services for schools, briefly improved food security but lacked durability. Identifying and adopting policies with proven lasting impacts resulting in systems change could guide Colorado toward genuine progress.
As we try to understand what has worked and what has not, to improve food security in Colorado, we must ask the difficult questions: Why hasn’t more money made a positive difference? How can we ensure long-term effectiveness in reducing food insecurity, and what will it take for us to do this?
If you have thoughts or ideas, I would love to hear them and explore these issues together. Please reach out.
Written By: Taber Ward
Taber Ward is a strategist and advocate for social justice. She is a believer — especially in human potential and...
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