Teddy Waszazak
Democratic Candidate for Vermont House of Representatives in the Washington-3 District
What do you believe is the role of state government, if any, in ensuring that everyone living in Vermont has the food they need to thrive?
I believe it is the role of the state government to ensure that all of our residents have access to their basic human needs - including food, shelter, and Healthcare.
What would be your policy priorities to move Vermont toward food security for all?
I believe that poverty/economic injustice is the largest barrier toward building a Vermont where everyone has the food they need. When budgets get tight, food is the first thing to be cut back - so, we need to look at what is causing that budget crunch. We have the highest healthcare costs in the nation, and housing prices are still wildly inflated post-COVID. I have and will continue to champion Tax The Rich/Fair Share initiatives to increase taxes on the wealthiest among us so that we can invest in these areas of affordability which are squeezing families, social services, and low and moderate income come folks throughout the state. Following that, I would look to the advice of anti-hunger experts about where the smartest investment would be in terms of specific food security initiatives.
What do you believe are the root causes of hunger, and what should the state do to address those underlying factors?
As I said above, I believe that poverty and economic injustice/income inequality are the root cause of many of the major problems we are facing as a State today. We need to implement a living wage, bring paid family and medical leave to fruition, we have to raise taxes on the wealthiest who have enjoyed 10 years of tax cuts from Congress and President Trump, and reign in out of control healthcare costs. These moves would go a long way in decreasing poverty, and thereby decreasing hunger.
How would you help strengthen the state’s agriculture and food economy to ensure Vermont farms can continue to grow the food we all need?
I believe that climate change is the biggest threat toward farmers in this moment - we are having regular flooding events, hotter summers and shorter winters that are causing crops to fail and making it harder to produce syrup. We as a State need to support farmers in building systems/facilities that are resilient to these climate challenges as part of our overall natural disaster resiliency work.