From farm to food pantry

As Leila Hawken’s reports in today’s paper, Q Farms in Sharon, owned and operated by Linda and James Quella, will close its retail store on Sunday, June 18. The problems associated with trying to run a sustainable, ecologically friendly farming operation proved insurmountable for many familiar reasons—difficulties finding enough staff, and difficulties creating high-quality meat, egg, and plant food products with price points low enough for wide distribution among them.

But rather than walking away from these problems, the Quellas have created a nonprofit entity, Tri Corner FEED, that will look for ways to promote food equity—the ability of people to get high-quality, nutrient-dense food whenever they need it. They are also hoping to create markets for farmers, beginning with the establishment of a network of local farmers and food pantries.

Hawken writes: “One of the aims of the organization will be to pay farmers a fair price for their products and channel those products to existing area food pantries, including The Corner Pantry in Lakeville and St. Thomas Pantry in Amenia….Others might participate by paying reduced prices according to their financial ability. The new organization is working toward a partnership with North East Community Center in Millerton to establish a sliding scale pricing system through a federal Local Food Promotion grant program.”

There are programs already up and running to emulate. The Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming in Cold Spring, New York is one. It has a program that involves purchasing food upfront from farmers and then donating that food to the food pantry system. The farmers have a market because food is being purchased from them at a fair price. And the food pantries are getting great food. Win/Win. The Sky Farm in Ancramdale,  New York, is another. Since 2011, it says it has donated over 100,000 pounds of vegetable and 65,000 pounds of animal protein to food pantries, food banks, and other food access organizations around New York State. The Northwest Community Food Hub, which has been operating since 2017, is a third.

The issue of food security impacts every community in Connecticut, rich or poor. United Way’s ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Restrained, Employed) is a method of identifying people who work and earn money but not enough to make ends meet, and certainly not enough to buy high-quality, nutrient-dense food. Nearly 40% of the households in the Tricorner counties (Dutchess, Columbia, Litchfield, Berkshire) live in poverty or below the ALICE threshold.

And with the exception of the farmer’s market every Saturday, our neighbors in nearby Millerton live in a food desert—there is no grocery store, which means you need to have a car to get to a store somewhere else.

Addressing the issues surrounding food security requires a multi-faceted approach. Hats off to the Quellas and other folks like them who are willing to step up. According to estimates from Feeding America, more than 380,000 (1 in 10) Connecticut residents struggle with hunger and more than 83,000 children are food insecure. Food security is a challenge every community needs to embrace.