Jenique Jones is
Fighting For Food
Justice

As we approach the holidays and look forward to sharing
meals with loved ones, we should remember that many
folks’ tables are often bare at this time of year—if not
year-round. According to the USDA, almost 14 percent of
Americans face a growing hunger crisis—and yet we have
a record number of billionaires. But what’s being done
about it?

Trailblazer Jenique Jones knows this conundrum all too
well. As a child, she lived in one of America’s households
without enough food. Growing up in Harlem during the
crack epidemic of the 1980s and ’90s, Jones witnessed
food inequity firsthand in her family and community; later,
in her work with the New York City Department of
Education, she saw children whose only reliable meals came
from the school system, which strongly motivated her to
dedicate her career to food justice.

“The reality is there is enough food on this planet for everybody—two or three times over,” Jones tells me at the WhyHunger Gala earlier this year. “So the fact that people don’t have food is a choice we are making as a society. There’s a choice to have a parent stand in line for food instead of helping their kid with their homework. There’s a choice to discard people of color, the LGBTQ community, and what we talk about here; it’s about systems. That’s why we have the inequality that we do.”

In 2023, Jones was appointed Executive Director of
WhyHunger, a global nonprofit working to end hunger and
the injustices that cause it. She brings a distinguished
career in public service and nonprofit leadership to the
role. Her work is especially crucial now, as the cost of
living rises, wealth inequality grows, and more cuts are
made to global aid and federal safety nets such as SNAP
(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

Jones, 49, previously spent 14 years at City Harvest, New
York City’s largest food rescue organization, where she
served as vice president of program operations and
policy. She oversaw the distribution of tens of millions of
pounds of food to soup kitchens, food pantries, and
community programs, while helping expand access to fresh
produce and affordable, nutritious meals. Her work also
included major emergency-response efforts, from
pandemic food distribution to disaster recovery following
Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey.

“I loved my work at City Harvest,” says Jones. “But seeing
the lines grow longer and longer while wealth grows more
and more—it reminded me of what Harry Chapin said
when he founded WhyHunger: ‘In a world of plenty, why
are there people who are hungry?’ ”

As a Black queer woman, Jones feels that her identity
gives her more insight into this problem.

“I see the things that maybe someone who is not a part of
those communities doesn’t see. I’m used to being the
difference in a room; even if I’m in a room full of Black
people, I’m the queer person. If I’m in a room full of white
people, I’m the Black person. If I’m in a room full of men,
I’m the woman. I’m used to being that outlier, and I know
what that feels like. And I also know what it feels like
when you are judged and when you are not given your
due because you’re one of those identities.