Organizations across Wisconsin work in tandem to combat widespread hunger using a combination of fundraising, nonprofit supply, and low cost food delivery services. While organizations use different methods to accomplish their mission, they all work together to lower the rate of hunger in Wisconsin.

New Jersey looks for those solutions being implemented successfully in other regions around the country to fight hunger in food deserts and poor neighborhoods, assessing what can be replicated in their local communities to address these issues.

University of Wisconsin students and faculty are attempting to change the way food is treated on campus to minimize waste. The dining halls compost leftovers, and food is also donated to Campus Kitchens, which serves food-insecure students. Food Shed is a new initiative to share food grown for research in refrigerators around campus, open to all. Leaders hope these initiatives reduce food insecurity and waste simultaneously.

Training refugees in digital skills provides them with a path toward self sufficiency. A pilot program developed with the UN World Food Program and the American University in Beirut offers computer literacy and English courses to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. The approach aims to reduce reliance on food relief and empower individuals to find employment with new skills.

While the USPS has seen a drastic decline in revenues and capacity in recent years due to growing competition from the private sector and social changes, First Class Meal is reimagining the role that this institution has to play: improving national access to healthy food. Using the existing USPS app to connect organizations and food banks that struggle to distribute donations, postal drivers out on their normal routes would pick up donations, deliver to food banks or pantries, and store food in post offices with excess capacity.

The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has helped the town of Ajo in Arizona distribute affordable and nutrient-dense food to the community after the coronavirus pandemic created a significant financial strain on many families. Additional support has come from the town's participation in the Environmental Protection Agency's program Local Food, Local Places which "provides technical support and expertise to help towns leverage food systems to boost economic development."

The ProMedica Toledo Hospital increases access to healthy food for low-income families through a novel kind of pharmacy. Patients receive free produce, recipes, and guidance from a dietician on how to treat and prevent diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure while improving eating habits. The food pharmacy serves over 800 people per month, and patients feel better mentally and physically.

Black-led coops are providing crucial access to grocery stores in food deserts like West Oakland, California. The Mandela Grocery Cooperative has used the worker co-op business model to create a connection with the community. The grocery store workers own a part of the company and function, not solely to earn a profit but to address the needs of the community.

Urban Tilth, an urban farm in California, is providing food directly to communities in need and upending the traditional food supply chain so they can help people access healthy and sustainably-grown food. They have been providing local organic food to 190 families financially impacted by COVID-19, almost six times more food they’ve distributed since the pandemic began.

Libraries have expanded their roles to be community centers where people can connect with social services and other local agencies for needs from homelessness to food insecurity to mental illness. Libraries are one of the few places where people receive access to resources at no charge and are meeting this need by hiring social workers and other specialized staff.

A small New Jersey startup has their sights set on creating lifestyle changes for all socioeconomic households by distributing affordable indoor farming kits. Both low-tech and low-maintenance, these indoor vegetable gardens aim to improve diets and help fight food insecurity.

Restaurants and labor unions have formed a partnership through Project Restore Us, or PRU, to benefit union members as well as restaurants during the pandemic. Restaurants utilize their access to discounted, bulk grocery items to create grocery boxes for union members. The profit goes to the restaurant and its employees, simultaneously helping those who are unemployed and dealing with food insecurity as well as the hard-hit restaurant industry.

Following other models across the U.S., in Michigan's Oakland County, homeless shelters and local restaurants are partnering to weather the coronavirus pandemic. The county is paying restaurants to cook meals for food-insecure community members.

A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.