A PUERTO RICO WITH STABLE FOOD SECURITY

We want to empower communities by facilitating access to quality food, encouraging local economic and agricultural development, and promoting food security throughout Puerto Rico

THE PROBLEM

Food Scarcity in Puerto Rico

POVERTY

PHYSICAL VULNERABILITIES

AGING POPULATION

NATURAL DISASTERS

THE SOLUTION

The solution includes: Distributions, Huerto Rico (food security project), Educational Workshops and Research.

DISTRIBUTIONS

HUERTO RICO

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS

RESEARCH

Introduction

Today, there is no doubt that food insecurity is a threat to human health and the economy of the entire world. Ensuring food safety is a public health priority.
Food insecurity in Puerto Rico is an island-wide phenomenon that has only been exacerbated by recent events such as Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean, leaving $91 billion of destruction in its wake. Most of this destruction was in Puerto Rico, causing a collapse of transportation infrastructure, the power grid, and the agricultural system, which suffered nearly $780 million of this damage. 90% of Puerto Rico’s food is imported, leaving it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, and, with the collapse of local agriculture and infrastructure in the wake of Maria, access to food–especially fresh food–has become incredibly difficult. The issue has only been compounded by the COVID-19 crisis. Supply chain failures continue to disrupt food imports, increasing the amount of PAN participants (Puerto Rico’s version of SNAP) to 1.35 million–over ⅓ of Puerto Ricans.
Our mission as a grassroots non-profit organization is to improve policy, strategic programming and infrastructure to bolster Puerto Rico’s food security. We initially started as a group of eager volunteers who wanted to help marginalized and emergency-struck communities receive the food they needed to continue their daily life. Distributing food to communities throughout the island during the pandemic made us realize the enormity of the issue of food insecurity in Puerto Rico. We went to work. Since then, we have grown into an organization that collaborates with over 120+ community organizations and manages a mesh-network of over 500 volunteers. Throughout these last two years of operation we have: distributed over $3MM worth of food, 1,500 vaccines to rural communities, 1.1MM units of PPE’s, have built 5 community gardens in marginalized Puerto Rican communities, and have begun an education initiative consisting of seminars, food security surveys, and a podcast.
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SINCE 2019, WE'VE HAD SOME TRACTION

FUTURE PROJECTS

In the next 3 years, our goal is to refine and expand our distribution infrastructure, in addition to our community development and research initiatives.

Distributing national food security surveys

Purchasing vans for distribution

Establishing a Brick & Mortar “El Centro ACOMER”

Become Our Volunteer

We need your help, we are looking for volunteers, community leaders, and donors. We want a Puerto Rico with stable food security.