City’s new anti-hunger position not meeting advocates’ appetites

Meet Mary Horstmann. She’s 28, has worked for the City of Philadelphia for three years and has recently been charged with helping fight the city’s hunger problem.

Meet Mariana Chilton, a professor in the Drexel University School of Public Health, a local expert on hunger and one of the anti-hunger advocates who expected more from the city’s new position for fighting hunger.

As detailed in this Inquirer story, those in Philadelphia already working to fight hunger thought Mayor Michael Nutter would a create a position devoted entirely to the issue and led by someone with considerable experience. Horstmann has worked as the city’s director of private sector initiatives, deputy recovery officer and deputy director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination.

Instead of making hunger her core focus, that task will be added to Horstmann’s existing duties as she fights hunger by addressing issues like housing and education.

The Department of Health calls this a “first step.”