Our Mission: “Is to increase the capacity of local level food systems efforts through collaboration, coordination and resource sharing, resulting in sustainable, sovereign food systems across the state of Maine.”
As poverty rates (12.7% in 2022) continue to skyrocket in the Lewiston-Auburn (LA) Metropolitan area, so does food insecurity. In Maine, 1 in 5 children are faced with food insecurity, and this community is no exception. The 2013 Community Food Assessment from Good Food Council of Lewiston-Auburn revealed that the largest barriers to food access in Lewiston-Auburn community are: access to reliable transportation, extreme weather conditions, lack of childcare, and the cost of quality, healthy food.
Organizations have formed to respond to the hunger crisis in Lewiston-Auburn, such as Saint Mary’s Nutrition Center Food Pantry, and many other organizations. They provide around 550 meals to families every week, but the problem of food insecurity still persists. The Good Food Council of LA has also stepped up to do their part of ending hunger in their community by organizing and sharing resources, education, and access to sustainable food system building. The Good Food Council also supports The Lewiston Farmers Market, which has begun to accept SNAP and WIC as payment methods, to increase access to healthy food. However, community based agriculture is an underdeveloped avenue to address community hunger.
Our goal is to connect community food councils, like The Good Food Council of LA across the state, as well as pushing toward food sovereignty in Maine. The Maine Network of Community Food Councils (MNCFC) has shared resources and education with Maine communities. Our resident-run gardening project aims to provide the toolkit for LA residents to establish their own sustainable food system. In the future, we hope that our project will lead to increased food security and independence for residents across the LA area.
