Brunswick food security program awarded $350K to support farms, food businesses

Photo / Courtesy, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program The Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and Merrymeeting Food Council staff complete a blueberry syrup co-packing project for Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick.

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By Laurie Schreiber

A federal grant of nearly $350,000 will support budding food businesses and local farms on the midcoast while bolstering efforts to reduce food insecurity.

The Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program in Brunswick said Tuesday it was awarded the four-year grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

It’s the largest grant in the program’s 40-year history, and will be used to expand farm partnerships and add co-packing capacity as a means of support.

“Through co-packing efforts, farms will be able to create value-added products from excess or blemished produce and develop new revenue sources,” said Randy Forrester, the organization’s community kitchen coordinator.

Two people stand at a stove making soup.

Photo / Courtesy, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Volunteers prepare a fall soup in the community kitchen of the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program.

That expansion is expected to result in increased processing capacity, so the program's grocery services can offer more value-added products like pre-chopped vegetables, pre-made frozen meals and meal kits.

“Our guests regularly ask for prepared meals and pre-chopped items, whether it is to decrease the time it takes for cooking or because they may be physically unable,” said Devyn Santora, the organization’s food pantry manager.

A million meals

Founded in 1983, the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program has a food access center at 12 Tenney Way and a warehouse and administrative facility at 179 Neptune Drive, both in Brunswick.

The organization uses a variety of strategies and partnerships in order to procure food for its programs to distribute in the midcoast region. Food goes to the warehouse for sorting and storage, then to the community via various programs or through a food pantry partner agency.

Mid Coast Hunger Prevention has contracts with approximately 30 local farms and at least a dozen retailers. In 2020, it launched a farm-to-pantry initiative designed to source as much in-season produce as possible from local farms. Farm-to-pantry partners include Six River Farm, Whatley Farm Crystal Spring Farm and others, according to the organization’s website.

Photo / Courtesy, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Local produce, processed in Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program’s community kitchen, is distributed through the food pantry.

Many large food donations come from individuals, community food drives and local food businesses. Retail partnerships also account for a large percentage of donated food, and Good Shepherd Food Bank supplements food supplies when needed.

Mid Coast Hunger Prevention's warehouse is where food is delivered, processed, stored and distributed. Monday through Saturday, volunteers collect and help sort donated meats, produce, nonperishables, breads and pastries. Then the items are either stored in the food bank, given out in the food pantry, made into meals in the soup kitchen, used for other programs or distributed to local pantries.

In 2022, the organization processed 1.5 million pounds of food, served 1.4 million meals and had 28,800 hours of volunteer support, 1,541 donors and 25 school partnerships.

The organization said that, in the coming year, it expects to provide over 1.1 million meals through prepared lunches in its soup kitchen and free groceries in its on-site food pantry and satellite pantries based in schools and other community spaces.

Next four years

The USDA grant will help the organization to be sustainable for the next four years, said Hannah Chatalbash, its executive director.

The grant is a result of years of collaboration between the organization, the Merrymeeting Food Council, the Merrymeeting Gleaners and other community partners from farmers to volunteers to entrepreneurs and many more.

“With food insecurity on the rise, both here in Maine and across the country, grants like these are critically important,” said U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District.

The grant will also support an ongoing effort between Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and the Merrymeeting Food Council to make the space available for startup food businesses to incubate and grow.

“As a former restaurant owner, I understand the difficulties and expenses of getting your business off the ground,” said Forrester. “MCHPP’s community kitchen offers affordable space, equipment and advice for startups and growing businesses.”