Spotlight Interview: Dan McCarthy Joins Just Harvest as New Grassroots Organizer

Welcome our new Grassroots Organizer Dan McCarthy! Dan attended Boston College where he was first introduced to the world of activism, which set him on his path into organizing. He has jumped into action at Just Harvest, doing incredible work on a campaign to End SNAP Benefit Theft. We are thrilled to have him on our team!

Dan McCarthy, Just Harvest’s Grassroots Organizer

How did you find yourself in Pittsburgh?

I’m originally from upstate New York, and I moved to Boston for college. While I was there studying political science, I joined a climate justice organization that was on my campus (that’s how I found myself on the path of what I call “professional troublemaking”). 

I stayed in the city for eight years, and found an incredible activist community that taught me so much. After I graduated, I interned at the Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club, where I ended up working on: climate legislation, transportation policy, and a handful of other environmental issues. 

When my partner started her PHD program at Carnegie Mellon University, I made the move to Pittsburgh! After the move, I joined the Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign – which was a great way to get to know Pittsburgh. As I was building new connections, and engaging in causes important to me with members of this new community, I began searching for ways I could continue doing advocacy work. While I didn’t have direct experience working in food justice, I knew I wanted to be a part of a mission that builds collective power and action.

What has been your journey with organizing?

My family has been a big influence to me, and there is a history there of engaging in this type of work. My grandfather worked in state government, my mother studied international affairs, and my sister studied political science and gender studies. I myself studied political science and English at college – where I found myself confronted with a privileged environment where students would say they wanted to make a difference, but never took any action in their community.

Once I found like-minded students who were willing to do the work and organize, I learned so much from working with them and then sharing those skills. Stepping away from this smaller community and into the larger world, I knew I wanted to carry that with me. I then worked for the Sierra Club as an intern, and was brought on full time – which is an experience I am very grateful for.

For anyone who is interested in getting involved in this work: go volunteer! You will meet so many great people and build connections with organizations doing work that is important to you.

What brought you to Just Harvest?

When the presidential campaign I was working for ended, it was an intense time. I began looking for new opportunities in the city, and learning about the work different organizations were doing. I saw that Just Harvest had a position open for a Grassroots Organizer, and was immediately interested in the mission. From the explicit explanation that action against hunger requires addressing an unjust system – and that poverty is a policy choice – I knew that Just Harvest was interested in more than bandaid solutions. 

Environmental work often crosses over to land and food access, and vice versa. The intersectionality of these issues has built my understanding of what this work requires. I am interested in working directly with community members that are engaged in building the change they envision.

What is something you’re currently working on, and how can folks get involved?

Ending SNAP benefit theft! The more folks that can tell their story and share why SNAP is important to them – or how the system has failed them – the stronger we are able to highlight needed reform. This is an extremely important issue and change needs to happen at the state level to ensure that folks here in Pennsylvania don’t go hungry, and at the federal level to strengthen life saving programs and policies that work for everyone. 

Right now, you can contact your legislators and urge them to take action! Learn more by clicking here. If you are interested in sharing your story to advocate for change, you can reach out to me at Danm@justharvest.org.

Lastly, what book would you recommend right now?

White Noise by Don DeLillo. It might be the best book that I have read in the last two years. It is an incredibly funny and slightly dark satire of America, and fits the current moment very much. I loved it. It is short, excellent, and everybody should read it – because I believe everybody would like it.