Community Corner

Community Partnership Hopes To End Hunger In New London County

Food Policy Council First In State

A coalition of community agencies gathered Monday afternoon amid mounds of canned vegetables and stacks of carrots in the heart of the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center to announce the ambitious goal to end hunger in New London County. 

“We cannot take food for granted, food insecurity is a reality in our region,” said Virginia Mason, president of United Way Southeastern Connecticut. “There are hungry children in the wealthiest parts of our region.” 

Childhood poverty and its seemingly contradictory corollary, childhood obesity, are the major focus of the newly launched New London County Food Policy Council, which was prompted by two independent community needs assessments conducted by Backus Hospital and Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in 2010. 

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The Backus Hospital survey found that out of 1,100 adults surveyed in New London County, 68.6 percent were overweight or obese, which is a bit more than the state’s obesity rate, which is 63 percent, and far above the national rate, which is 59.6 percent, according to Keith Fontaine, a Backus Hospital vice president. 

“It’s a major focus, it’s what drove us to partner with the United Way,” Fontaine said. “We wanted to get into the schools and down into the homes where the food is prepared, and then you’re taking it beyond what a hospital can do.” 

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The food policy council is the first of its kind in the region and aims to address the weaknesses in the county’s food system, such as nutritious food choices, access to healthful foods and menu planning but it will undertake issues beyond food choice and preparation, according to Michael O’Farrell, a Lawrence and Memorial spokesperson.

“We’re going to hear about obesity, we’re going to hear about addiction,” he said. “But this is just the first splash, there will be other things we can hang our hat on.” 

The first steps to eating healthful food is having access to grocery stores or food centers with fresh food, which many people in New London county don’t have, according to the United Way Needs Assessment. 

Gemma Moran, founder of the food center of the same name, was seeing a dream of hers come true.

“I’m very emotional today,” said the 86-year-old retiree, “I started this place with a $5,000 grant and today we have 90 programs and distribution sites.” 

Rep. Joe Courtney, who is on the Agricultural Committee, was there to thank the organizing members for forming a food policy council and said he was looking forward to working with them. 

The council is comprised of representatives from the United Way, the Thames Valley Council on Community Action, Norwich Human Services, Backus and Lawrence and Memorial Hospitals, Southeastern Mental Health Authority and the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center.


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