The Hunger in Kentucky Summit took place at the Fayette County Cooperative Extension Office on May 4, 2023. The Summit was convened by partners of the State Nutrition Action Council (SNAC). In attendance were over 85 participants representing more than 20 organizations directly or indirectly involved with food security work. 

Summit participants spent the day responding to prompts developed using an Appreciative Inquiry framework, an approach that focuses on current strengths and values to develop goals around an issue and plans for achieving those goals. Participants were assigned to small discussion groups facilitated by volunteers from the UK Cooperative Extension’s Nutrition Education Program and Feeding Kentucky. 

The themes arising from these discussions were aggregated into four broad areas:  equity in food justice, collaboration, education and accountability. The goals developed included engaging policy makers and funders, increasing food rescue and diversion, involving public schools in farming and nutrition education, expanding partnerships and building collaborative workshops. 

Participants responding to a post-event evaluation survey reported the following:

• 95.5% agreed that participating in the Summit had been a good use of their time
• 100% agreed that they had made valuable connections as a result of the Summit
• 86.3% agreed that the experience had been energizing
• 77.3% agreed that the Appreciative Inquiry framework utilized had been productive
• 95.5% agreed that their input during the process had been valued

Feedback received from participants in the weeks following the event indicates that work is already taking place to achieve the goals developed during the Summit.