DENVER -- Farm to School programs are beginning to bounce back after last year's COVID closures, and more than half the state's 178 school districts now have at least one activity aimed at helping students access local, nutrient-rich foods.

Jessica Wright, senior program and policy manager for Nourish Colorado, is part of a statewide effort to get more school cafeterias connected with local food producers, while students learn first hand where their food comes from.

"From planting those seeds, harvesting it, and transporting it to us," Wright outlined. "And helping students actually understand that it's not as simple as going to a grocery store and buying an apple. There's a lot of work that goes into that."

Farm to school programs give local farmers a reliable revenue stream, and Wright pointed out they can also help more students see food production as a viable, long-term career option. For school food directors, farmers and anyone else interested in learning more about connecting farms to schools, visit NourishColorado.org to sign up for workshops planned for January.

In 2019, Colorado lawmakers passed legislation to help launch a three-year pilot program giving schools in 16 diverse districts money to buy Colorado-grown, raised or processed products. Schools also can get training for preparing healthy meals from scratch.

Wright noted cost can be a significant barrier for schools operating on tight food budgets.

"This is a way to show that if we can provide schools with that financial incentive, they are then buying more local products, creating new connections to our agricultural producers, and really starting to bake this into how they operate," Wright explained.

Wright also sees her work as an opportunity to build more equitable food systems that value farmworkers and every other aspect of food production and distribution. She added the educational opportunities are virtually endless when classrooms are extended into school gardens and farms.

"There's science, there's math, there's reading, there's history; above and beyond culinary skills," Wright stressed. "And just the wonder of seeing something grow and getting to taste that hard work right there off the vine like a freshly picked cherry tomato."

Virginia's food banks are facing a perfect storm of issues. High inflation for everyday goods is driving up food costs for lower-income families, all while food banks are working to overcome supply-chain issues to keep their shelves stocked.

Eddie Oliver, executive director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, which oversees seven regional food banks across the state, said since many pandemic stimulus benefits have expired, the financial reserves lower-income families built have started to drop off.

"While families are getting squeezed, they're turning more and more to food banks for assistance," Oliver pointed out. "Meanwhile, our operational expenses are going up. So it's challenging on many fronts."

Oliver noted the best way to support a local food bank is through financial support, which will help them keep up with the surge in grocery prices. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), grocery prices are anticipated to increase between 5% and 6% in 2022.

According to Feeding America, nearly a quarter-million Virginia children are food insecure, and nearly half of households receiving SNAP benefits have children.

On top of the supply-chain issues and inflation, Oliver emphasized the end of the school semester also will be an exacerbating factor in the coming weeks.

"School meal access is coming to an end here as schools are about to let out for the summer," Oliver observed. "Meanwhile, we're seeing the highest inflation we've seen in decades, which of course disproportionately impacts low-income families."

The USDA extended free school lunches to kids throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but the program will end at the conclusion of this school year. The Virginia Poverty Law Center reported pre-COVID, more than 460,000 Virginia students received free and reduced-cost school meals daily.

Oregonians are casting their ballots for Tuesday's primary election. One issue affecting many voters is access to child care.

Courtney Helstein, senior political director with the organization Family Forward Oregon, said child-care affordability was a problem before COVID-19 and the pandemic has only exacerbated it.

She said women, particularly women of color, have felt the disproportionate impacts of care costs and accessibility. Helstein said the costs mean some have to make tough decisions.

"The result of all these high costs is that too many families are actually forced to choose between child care, between meals, between other basic necessities," said Helstein. "And they're also having to weigh the financial costs of, 'Is it actually more cost effective for me and my family for me to not work?'"

Helstein said demand has never been higher for child care, but workers in the field are among the lowest paid in the country.

She said there have been some successes in the Oregon Legislature, including investments in early childhood learning and community-led pilot projects.

Matt Newell-Ching, senior policy manager with the nonpartisan nonprofit Oregon Food Bank, said access to child care is a hunger issue.

The food bank surveyed candidates for governor about food insecurity, and their responses are posted on its website.

Newell-Ching said there's a question about child care because Oregon Food Bank believes it will continue to be an issue for Oregon families.

"Whoever the next governor is," said Newell-Ching, "we believe it's critical that we as a state come together to ensure kids have a safe place to be while parents are working because it impacts every communities' ability to rebuild and thrive."

Helstein said we need to look at child care differently.

"We're seeing the beginning of this culture shift," said Helstein, "across the country, but definitely in the state of Oregon, of really starting to reframe access to child care from kind of like a personal problem to a societal problem, to a community benefit."

The deadline to vote in Oregon's primary is Tuesday. Drop sites for ballots will be open until 8 p.m.

Reporting by Oregon News Service funded in part by Oregon Food Bank.

Mail carriers across New Mexico are gearing-up for the "2022 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive" this Saturday, May 14. The National Association of Letter Carriers with the U.S. Postal Service encourage postal customers to leave a bag in or near their mailbox filled with nonperishable food, to be picked up by mail carriers and shared with Roadrunner Food Bank for distribution. Comments from Marie Montano, carrier, National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 504, Albuquerque.

Marie Montano, a letter carrier for the Postal Service and member of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 504 in Albuquerque leads the drive, said donations help replenish the shelves at Roadrunner Food Bank.

Montano noted the project is close to her heart, because she remembers her own family sometimes struggled to make ends meet.

"There were six of us in my family, so I remember that it was sometimes tight for my parents," Montano recounted. "And if I can do it now, to help out, I will do as much as I can, because I remember that."

Due to COVID, letter carriers had to forgo the annual tradition the past two years, and instead competed in friendly contests to raise cash for Roadrunner, topping out at $10,000 last year.

The annual event, held the second Saturday in May, takes place in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states and beyond.

According to Montano, postal customers just need to put food items next to their mail slot and a letter carrier will do the rest.

"Some of my customers don't have the time to go and take it to Roadrunner," Montano acknowledged. "Everybody's so busy now and with COVID going on, they were kind-of scared, and it's easy for a lot of our customers."

Because of the two-year COVID hiatus, Montano is not sure what to expect for this year's drive, but said current letter carriers, retirees and countless volunteers will do their best to make it successful.

"I'd like to hit 200,000 pounds for Albuquerque," Montano emphasized. "We've gone a little bit close, I don't know that we've fully gone over, over in the one-day pick-up. I think the highest we've gone is, like, 195,000."

People are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing nonperishable food items that are not expired -- such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned meats and fish, pasta, peanut butter, rice or cereal -- next to their mailbox before the regular mail delivery time on Saturday.