DANBURY, CT (June 28, 2024) — United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut (UWCWC), welcomed Connecticut’s Commission of Agriculture, Bryan Hurlburt, and the CT Food Policy Council for an inspiring tour of several key food initiatives in Danbury. The tour highlighted the significant efforts being made to improve food security, health, and community well-being in the greater Danbury community.
"Thank you to the Commissioner and the CT Food Policy Council for taking time to visit Danbury,” said Isabel Almeida, President and CEO of United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut. “United Way is committed to increasing food security and improving health outcomes for all residents. Through our investment in programs like Cora’s Kids Seedlings to Sprouts and the Food Farmacy, as well as our commitment to collaboration and partnership, we are continuing this vital work and advocating for the resources needed to sustain these programs."
The tour began with a visit to the United Way’s Cora’s Kids Seedlings to Sprouts project, an initiative funded by CT Grown for CT Kids. This innovative program aims to increase access to and consumption of healthy, local fruits and vegetables for children, families, and child care providers in Danbury. Through nutrition education, local food access, hands-on experiences, and community engagement activities, Seedlings to Sprouts empowers child care providers and families. Seedlings to Sprouts integrates three core components: 1) nutrition classes in partnership with UConn Extension; 2) vouchers redeemable at the Danbury Farmers Market; and 3) support for creating fruit and vegetable gardens at family child care providers’ homes. Approximately 175 care providers and families will benefit from this initiative. This comprehensive initiative not only improves food security and nutrition but also fosters a deeper connection to local agriculture and healthy eating habits.Next, the group toured the Daily Bread Food Pantry, which, in partnership with the Danbury Food Collaborative, has benefited from Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) funding for new equipment and a data modernization project. This project includes a full-featured, cloud-based food pantry management system. By collaboratively upgrading their food pantry management systems, 6 Danbury Food Collaborative pantries increased their capacity to provide fresh, healthy food to those in need.
The final stop was the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury, a grocery-style food pantry co-located with the Connecticut Institute for Communities’ Community Center (CIFC). This innovative initiative allows physicians and healthcare providers to "prescribe" healthy foods to patients identified as food insecure and hypertensive. Through partnerships with Nuvance Health, Connecticut Institue for Communities, UConn Extension, Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut, and Community Food Rescue, the Food Farmacy offers holistic support including culturally appropriate and medically sensitive cooking classes, produce benefit cards to shop at local supermarkets, nutrition counseling, social services assistance, and membership to the Danbury Community Center for physical activities.
"Today's tour underscored the importance of strategic partnerships in addressing food security and promoting health. A lot of these programs are either privately funded or non-profit funded for a short period that doesn’t allow the necessary time to develop the data they need to back up the work,” expressed Bryan Hurlburt, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. “We need to start developing the data to demonstrate to Congress and other policymakers that these programs are important. When we invest in the health of the individual and our agricultural community by partnering with Connecticut farms to get fresh fruits and vegetables on the tables of individuals and families, we get wins everywhere.”
Dr. Brenda Ayers of Nuvance Health expressed, "Funding is a big limiter to continuing to establish these programs and sustain them. Access to healthy and nutritious food should not be a privileged reserve for some, it should be a right shared equitably among all people.”
“This is important work. Being able to partner with Connecticut farms to support the clients of the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury and address food insecurity is a huge win”, said Linda Hutchings, of Community Action Agency of Western CT and the procurement person for the Food Farmacy. “We are committed to providing these clients with the best quality of produce we can find.”
The tour highlighted the impactful work being done to combat food insecurity and promote health through access to nutritious food. These initiatives exemplify the power of community collaboration and innovative solutions in addressing critical needs.