Our Equity Commitment

We are the Mountain Area Nutritional Needs Alliance (MANNA), a network of more than 200 partner agencies, volunteers, staff, board, and others working together in a shared mission of involving, educating, and uniting people in the work of ending hunger in Western North Carolina.

At MANNA FoodBank, we hold people experiencing hunger and food insecurity in Western North Carolina at the center of our actions and decisions. We envision a hunger-free Western North Carolina where each person can participate, prosper and have access to food that is both nourishing and in keeping with their culture. We recognize that systemic injustices and oppression exist—such as racism, classism, and sexism—and that these create and perpetuate conditions that sustain poverty, hunger, and health disparities.

Understanding this, we commit to serve marginalized communities, in both urban and rural environments, in ways that value who they are, their lived experiences and their unique barriers to accessing food. We resolve to educate ourselves by listening to and including these communities in our work, and to respond where bias and inequities appear. We will confront oppression and poverty by developing solutions to hunger that are community-driven, equitable, accessible, honor a diversity of needs, and value everyone. Our food programs and public policy efforts aim to build a society where everyone can thrive—celebrating our differences and working together to overcome injustices that might divide us… because no one should be hungry.