Maria do Livramento Santos fights to protect the mangroves, the habitat for the shrimp she relies on for income, and the heritage that was passed down to her from her parents.

The Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards (HCSRA) is a national grant program providing economic resources and networking opportunities to outstanding community-based organizations for their creative and effective approaches to fighting hunger and poverty in the United States. Cash grants of up to $7,000 will be awarded to ten community-based organizations around the country to support innovative programmatic work in the fields

On Monday, June 6th, our 2010 Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award winners were honored at our annual WhyHunger-Chapin Awards Dinner. The evening’s honorees included New York Times food writer Mark Bittman and legendary musician and activist Rubén Blades. HCSRA guest speaker Rosalinda Guillén, the Executive Director of Community to Community Development (C2C) in Bellingham, WA, poignantly and eloquently highlighted the critical

In May the USDA introduced a new tool to help communities, city planners, researchers and policy makers locate “food deserts” in their own backyards.  The Food Desert Locator is an online mapping tool that highlights areas classified as “food deserts” across the country.  To use the map, enter the locator and zoom in to get a closer look.  Click on

An installment in the "Food Voices" series taking a look at community supported fisheries.