Alejandro Figueroa
Food ReporterAlejandro Figueroa covers food insecurity and the business of food for WYSO through Report for America — a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Alejandro particularly covers the lack of access to healthy and affordable food in Southwest Ohio communities, and what local government and nonprofits are doing to address it. He also covers rural and urban farming
Alejandro is a 2021 graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and while there he reported for The New Political, a student-run publication focused on politics and government. His reporting has been featured on NPR, The GroundTruth Project and the Ohio Newsroom.
Alejandro was born in a small coastal town in Puerto Rico and in 2014 he and his family moved to Columbus, Ohio. When he's not reporting, he enjoys going out on a hike and he sometimes daydreams about restoring an old pickup truck.
Email: afigueroa@wyso.org
Phone: 937-917-5943
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Eviction rates are increasing in parts of Ohio, particularly impacting low-income rural communities, compounded by a severe shortage of affordable housing. -
Local farmers, anti-hunger advocates, and policymakers in Montgomery County are collaborating to tackle food waste by discussing the challenges of creating additional compost facilities at the Dayton Foodbank. -
Montgomery County officials announced a plan to renovate the old wing of the county jail on Friday, September 22. It will cost $20 million and adds 100 beds for people in the jail experiencing a psychiatric or medical crisis. -
The value of farmland in Montgomery County enrolled in a state tax savings program is set to increase an average of 78%, though taxes will not rise nearly as much as values, according to the County Auditor’s Office. -
The Ohio Department of Agriculture is expanding its H2Ohio program, initially launched in 2019 for farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin. This expansion will extend eligibility to farmers statewide starting in 2024. -
Huber Heights planning commission recommends rezoning for Buc-ee’s. 53-acre site near I-70, first in Ohio. -
Dayton okays $1.2M contract to demolish fire-damaged buildings. Part of $15.8M initiative to tear down 1,100 blighted structures. -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for its Discrimination Financial Assistance Program. It also recently opened an office in Central Ohio for eligible farmers, ranchers and landowners who believe they’ve been discriminated against by the federal agency. -
Central State University researchers partner with Kansas-based Land Institute to domesticate wild grain in Ohio for sustainable farming. -
A Springfield man pleads guilty to hate crimes against Haitian immigrants.
