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
- More than 40% of the population in lives below the federal poverty level
- People with an income of less than $25,000 a year are 3.3 times more likely to belong to the food insecure group
PHYSICAL VULNERABILITIES
- Puerto Rico imports approx. 90% of their food, increasing our vulnerability due to atmospheric events, war events, or pandemics
AGING POPULATION
- Adults 65+ constitute more than 21% of the population
- There were higher prevalences of high blood pressure (43.2%) and depression (25.9%) compared to food-secure people
NATURAL DISASTERS
- After two consecutive years of exhausting the list of names, 19 storms have been forecast
- Increase in hurricanes and storms due to climate change
THE SOLUTION
The solution includes: Distributions, Huerto
Rico (food security project), Educational
Workshops and Research.
DISTRIBUTIONS
- Through a network of over 30 communities, ACOMEPR provides food distribution services and personal protective equipment.
HUERTO RICO
- This project aims to establish community gardens throughout Puerto Rico to promote well-being and food security at the community level.
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
- To encourage and strengthen community development, ACOMERPR provides various workshops from nutrition topics to leadership & organizational development.
RESEARCH
- ACOMERPR is carrying out multiple research projects on the subject of food safety.
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.
Read More About
SINCE 2019, WE'VE HAD SOME TRACTION
- Distributed more than 168,000+ food items
- Collaborated with more than 33+ organizations
- Reached more than 58+ municipalities in Puerto Rico
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.
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.