CT groups are finding creative solutions to address increasing food insecurity

Editor’s note: This is the second part of an occasional series on food insecurity. When we reported the first story about Connecticut pantries, we encountered examples of innovation and ingenuity in attempts to provide higher quality food to more people in need. This story highlights some of those efforts.

Food insecurity is increasing in Connecticut. According to Feeding America, one in eight residents experience food insecurity. This includes one in six children and one in four black and Hispanic residents. Inflation and housing prices have worsened since the COVID pandemic, pushing more people to seek supplements.

The federal government intervened during the pandemic. The state’s largest food bank, Connecticut Foodshare, received additional food from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Farmers to Families Food Box program. But these sources have now dried up, and yet the demand for food is still extremely high. And the state is only donating a tiny amount: about $1 million in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. In the past, food banks have collected private donations and held food drives for non-perishable cans and boxes at schools and churches.

But they are also resorting to increasingly creative methods to close the gap between supply and demand. They harness the power of nature, community and technology to bring healthier, more abundant food to more people.

The food forest is home to dozens of fruits and vegetables, including pumpkin. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror

food forest

Behind a home on a major thoroughfare in Hartford’s South End you’ll find one of these experiments. Here, the Chrysalis Center manages a two-acre property – Hartford’s first “food forest.” A food forest is more than a community garden. It is a layered canopy of trees, shrubs and plants – even mycelium – that mimics the give and take of a naturally occurring ecosystem.

Food forests do not have to be large or densely forested. The Chrysalis food forest is about the size of a small park surrounded by homes. The building directly in front of the property is also owned by Chrysalis and houses six young adults and 18 veterans, all of whom are otherwise at risk of homelessness.

There are some large, established trees at the rear of the property. In the front, 30 raised beds were full of vegetables in late summer, and rows of blueberries and fruit tree seedlings aspire to eventually contribute more nutrition. They planned to harvest the sap from red maple trees for syrup, and in the shade of those trees, a stack of logs had been inoculated with spores so that edible mushrooms could sprout.

The food forest is home to dozens of fruits and vegetables, including pumpkin. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror

Urban farmer Sean Bodnar says the project is still in its early stages. Bodnar’s goal for 2024 was to harvest 3,000 pounds of food from the forest. Right now it’s “a small drop in the bucket,” but he expects the poundage to increase each year.

Vegetables and fruits are sold at the farmers market operated by Chrysalis, which accepts and matches SNAP dollars. Some products are distributed to customers in the group’s pantry and in the catering kitchen, which offers vocational training in the catering sector. Local schools also benefit.

Even Chrysalis’s headquarters grows food: Two hydroponic rooms in the basement are packed with lettuce, tomatoes and peppers, plants that thrive under grow lights all winter long.

Chrysalis has also partnered with grocery chains such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods to supply its Freshplace food pantry. Instead of a traditional pantry model that helps clients for an indefinite period of time, Freshplace participants receive the support of a case manager and a fixed membership period: households can only join for 18 months and are required to create a “restart plan.” During this time, in addition to food, enrolled members receive case management services from social workers and create the plan together.

“It’s not just a hand up, it’s a hand up,” said Judy Gough, Chrysalis’ chief of staff. Families are triaged to find out what they need to secure their food supply – be it an employment or educational opportunity, or to get out of debt or find housing. Then Chrysalis advocates for them to enroll in a GED program, helps them book an interview, and supports them in getting out of debt or finding housing.

food swamp

Another Hartford group is finding a middle ground between donated food and full-price food. At Grocery on Broad, customers can shop at a typical grocery store, but at a discounted price. Depending on your income, this can be a 25 to 50% discount on products such as fruit, cereal, meat and dairy products.

“Food desert,” a term that describes an area where there are few fresh food options and no grocery stores within easy reach, has become a relatively familiar term in food access discourse. Ben Dubow says Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood is instead a “food swamp.” Yes, there are shops that sell food, but the offering is usually of low quality and prices for fresh food are high.

Established to provide greater access to this “swamp,” Grocery on Broad is also open to the general public who may be looking for a better quality grocery store in their neighborhood. Anyone can receive a 3% discount just for registering. Dubow says he does most of his shopping there himself.

“We are not here to replace traditional pantries, but rather we believe this is a good complement to traditional food and healthy food,” Dubow said. “We think it’s part of the solution, it’s not the whole solution.”

Colleen Stradtman, director of the Food Rescue Site, grabs produce destined for a nearby food pantry. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh/CT Mirror

To help

In Litchfield County in September, Colleen Stradtman drove up in a small SUV to pick up produce grown at Judea Garden in Washington town. Wearing a T-shirt that read “Food Rescue US,” Stradtman picked up a valuable shipment: packages of vegetables destined for a community kitchen in Litchfield.

Stradtman is just one of Food Rescue’s employees at 43 locations across the country. Founded in Stamford in 2011, the group gathers volunteers and staff to quickly collect food that would otherwise go to waste and then get it to people in need before it goes to waste, primarily through pantries and community kitchens. That might mean picking up ten trays of appetizers from a catering company when the groom gets cold feet, or redirecting a huge order of faulty products that were destined for the shelves of a grocery store.

On that day in September, Stradtman stopped at a Stop & Shop in Torrington, a small warehouse where local farmers deliver their produce, and Judea Garden. She brought food to a Salvation Army pantry and a community kitchen.

Some loads are small – Stradtman can handle them in her SUV. Others are massive, such as the cancellations of truckloads of fruit by big box stores, cancellations that are “insanely common,” according to James Hart, director of development at Food Rescue US. The volumes can be overwhelming—for example, a truck driver with 38,000 pounds of peaches calls in when a grocery chain cancels an order and faces the prospect of dumping the perfectly edible food in a landfill.

Food Rescue provides the logistics and manpower to solve this problem. The group can store these peaches and distribute them among a large group of pantries, as no single location would have the capacity to distribute them before they rot. In doing so, Food Rescue helps support one of the most demanding tasks of modern pantries: providing customers with fresh produce and protein to supplement the non-perishable items so often donated.

Years ago, Stradtman got divorced. The floor fell away from her and her children. She had family in the area but initially moved elsewhere.

“They hesitate to make contact. They’re hesitant to say, “I’m struggling right now.” So the first line of defense is to go to agencies in the area and ask, “Is there anything you can do to help me get through this difficult time?” These agencies were there for them. “I was able to move on without shame. My kids had no idea, and to this day they still have no idea.”

A few months later, Stradtman got a new job and no longer relied on those agencies. Today, as a food rescuer, she gives back to people who may be in a similar situation.

“You go to bed at night knowing that you did something good today.”

Watch out for gaps

Some organizations in Connecticut are trying to get food to people outside of brick-and-mortar distribution sites. Mobile pantries have become a lifeline for people living in areas of the state where they may not otherwise have easy access to a pantry. Connecticut Foodshare operates 113 mobile pantries throughout the state, set up in a farmers market style where customers can select the items they want.

Stamford-based food distribution site Person 2 Person also brings refrigerated trucks to surrounding neighborhoods each week with English and Spanish-speaking staff. There, shoppers not only receive groceries, but can also be connected to the nonprofit’s comprehensive services, such as domestic violence and mental health providers.

Filling in the Blanks, a nonprofit organization based in Norwalk, aims to close the weekend gap that leaves some children hungry between school-provided meals. On Fridays, the group provides bags of snacks and easy-to-prepare meals that are distributed directly to children at school. These bags are packaged to fit easily into backpacks and can be prepared with minimal cooking supplies. The group currently serves children in 11 cities in Connecticut and three in New York.

Do you have a story about food insecurity that you think should be covered in this series? Write to [email protected].

CT groups are finding creative solutions to address increasing food insecurity

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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