About the Hunger, Nutrition and Health Action Collaborative
Our Mission
Our mission is to drive collaboration, foster innovation and amplify initiatives that support ending hunger across the United States. This will be achieved by identifying and developing new partnerships that bring resources and expertise together to make a sustainable impact.
Who We Are
The CDC Foundation is working to bring together partners to build healthy communities by ending hunger and improving nutrition and physical activity in the United States.
Beginning in 2022, the CDC Foundation worked in partnership with the White House to engage multiple sectors in a whole of society approach to meet the nation’s challenges of hunger, nutrition and health. The response to the call for engagement was immediate and impressive, and in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on September 28, 2022, more than $8 billion in public-private commitments were announced. These commitments ranged from philanthropic contributions, in-kind donations, community-based initiatives, academic research and private investments. The CDC Foundation served as the primary organization coordinating with partners to manage the commitments—catalyzing action for the millions of Americans living with food insecurity and diet-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension. These efforts were formalized with the release of a National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, organized along five pillars of coordinated response:
Pillar 1: Improve Food Access and Affordability
Pillar 2: Integrate Nutrition and Health
Pillar 3: Empower All Consumers to Make and Have Access to Healthy Choices
Pillar 4: Support Physical Activity for All
Pillar 5: Enhance Nutrition and Food Security Research
In 2023, the CDC Foundation has continued this work to gather additional commitments to meet the challenge. Announcement of the second round of commitments is forthcoming.
Many of the organizations that made commitments expressed interest in connecting with others engaged in this domain to advance this important work. In response to these requests and to optimize the potential synergy of collaborative partnerships the CDC Foundation is creating the Hunger, Nutrition and Health Action Collaborative. The Action Collaborative is inclusive of organizations dedicated to ending hunger and improving nutrition and health working at the local, state and national levels. The Collaborative will enable individuals and organizations to identify, share and leverage innovations, best practices and standards that support the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health’s five pillars. The Collaborative has identified these pillars as our areas of impact. Collectively, the Collaborative will provide a platform to connect organizations, groups with specific interests and key stakeholders to assemble and drive concrete actions and approaches to end hunger and build healthy communities.
Why is the Hunger, Nutrition and Health Action Collaborative Important?
In the United States, nearly 34 million people experience hunger or food insecurity, including millions of children. Further, for those who cannot afford or do not have access to healthy foods, they are at higher risk of diet-related diseases—like heart disease and diabetes, some of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.
While the effects of hunger can impact any American, the toll from hunger is not distributed equally. Hunger and food insecurity disproportionately impact underserved communities, communities of color, low-income families and rural Americans. It is our goal to come together to help all Americans—to end hunger and to reduce diet-related diseases that affect food insecure Americans because of their lack of access to healthy and nutritious foods.
We Can All End Hunger
Achieving this goal will require collective action. Whether you are a government entity, business, foundation, academic institution, association or individual, you can play a role in this critical effort.
Get Involved