Voices in Food Equity Event at BCC

10:43AM / Tuesday, August 20, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts will host its third Voices in Food Equity event on Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM at Berkshire Community College.

The panel discussion brings together community leaders and residents to discuss school-and college-age food insecurity in the region. The event is sponsored by Adams Community Bank, Berkshire Community College, Guido's Fresh Marketplace, Stone House, and Wheeler & Taylor.

Voices in Food Equity will feature a panel discussion with prominent voices in food equity who will share their insights and experiences specifically addressing food insecurity for children, youth, and college- students.

"I am excited to moderate the Voices in Food Equity, together we can brainstorm solutions addressing food insecurity and food inequity in our most vulnerable population," said Mary Feuer, Director of WIC and Family Services at Community Health Programs Inc, Berkshires, and member of the Food Bank Board of Directors. "Everyone deserves to have access to and to eat healthy nutritious, culturally diverse foods of their choosing."

The event will be held in the Connector, located between Hawthorne and Melville Halls.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please visit foodbankwma.org to reserve a spot.

Panelists include:

Lois Daunis - President of the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry Board of Directors
Aaron Oster - Instructional Program Manager for Food, Culture, and the Local Community at BCC
Jenny Schwartz - Operations Manager and Volunteer Coordinator at Berkshire Bounty
Jess Vecchia - Executive Director and Co-Founder at Roots Rising

A Q&A session will follow the discussion.

"We invite everyone who is concerned or passionate about food equity to join us for an evening of thoughtful dialogue and networking," said Andrew Morehouse Food Bank Executive Director. "Together, we can create a Western Massachusetts where no one faces food insecurity, and everyone always has access to nutritious food."

Tags: BCC, food pantry,

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Pittsfield Schools See Better Building Utilization, Continued Choice Outs

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
01:24PM / Wednesday, August 19, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students return to school in two weeks; Pittsfield will have one less elementary school and around 100 fewer students.

The School Committee was updated on enrollment for the 2026-2027 academic year during last week's regular meeting.

At this time, the Pittsfield Public Schools had 4,586 students, compared to 4,682 at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Latifah Phillips said this has been the district's trend for years and is not surprising.

"Across all of these grade levels, we have a decrease. I believe of about 80-90 students. I think it's at eighth grade that we're going to look into and make sure that our data is accurate," she said to the School Committee last week.

"But otherwise, the enrollment is following the trends that we have expected in probably the last decade."

With this school year comes the closure of Morningside Community School and the middle school restructuring that sends Grades 5-6 to Herberg Middle School and Grades 7-8 to Reid Middle School.

Fifth grade enrollment was subtracted from last year's elementary enrollment, and these reflect the reassignment of Morningside students to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams.

Phillips pointed out that this process has increased the use of school buildings, as underutilized buildings were one of the concerns that led to institutional changes.

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