In the before time, pre-election, I had the amazing chance to speak with renowned chef and health advocate, Tom Colicchio, about our country's struggles with poverty and food insecurity.

However, like so much of what we're focused on, this topic is now more pressing than ever, and our conversation seems a bit prescient.

Why? Because the most significant government programs that lift people out of poverty,

that provide access to assistance to those who have a hard time putting food on the table,

that can help bridge that gap for nutritional access. those programs are being handled right now at the

federal level by the United States Department of Agriculture, also known as the USDA.

Now, while Trump has not announced who he intends to appoint as his Agriculture Secretary,

Project 2025 has told us what he intends to do. They outline in grave detail the devastating

proposals to programs that would cut back eligibility for access to food. It would weaken regulations

on baby formula. They would limit access to low-cost lunches for school children, and that's just the beginning.

But knowing what their targets are means that we can get ready to protect, defend, and insist

that our elected leaders take care of their people. Because hunger doesn't care about your age,

your race, your region, or who you voted for.

So we're going to talk to Tom about how he lobbied members of Congress.

And this is going to be important ahead of the confirmations in January.

Because if Trump follows regular order, he is going to once again pick someone who is counter to our needs and counter to our American

tradition of trying to help one another.

But we can take lessons from Tom on not only how to approach congressional leaders, but how

to talk to our state legislators who are the political partners in programs like SNAP and

WIC, how to talk to school board members who need to be urging

their leaders to take action to protect children, how we talk to our neighbors about why hunger

doesn't care about who you are. Hunger simply needs to be satisfied. In the meantime,

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