Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, a Brunswick-based food security organization, recently received a four-year, nearly $350,000 Community Food Project grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program volunteers prepare a fall soup in the Community Kitchen. Courtesy of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

The grant funds will support MCHPP’s Community Kitchen, bolstering efforts to reduce food insecurity by increasing access to locally grown foods while supporting local farms and small businesses. MCHPP will use the funding in three primary ways: to increase its organizational food-processing capacity and offer more Maine produce in its programs, to support budding food businesses with the resources they need to grow, and to expand farm partnerships through co-packing opportunities to help farmers create value-added retail products.

“This is the largest grant in MCHPP’s 40-year history, and it ensures that the Community Kitchen will be sustainable for the next four years, a massive feat for a community based nonprofit organization like ours,” Hannah Chatalbash, the agency’s executive director, said in a prepared release.

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

Internally, MCHPP will aim to increase its processing capacity to offer more value-added products like pre-chopped vegetables, pre-made frozen meals and meal kits through its grocery programs.

“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, it is exciting to have a kitchen with dedicated time for preparing those items for our guests,” said Devyn Santora, MCHPP’s Food Pantry manager.

A Merrymeeting Food Council staff member completes a blueberry syrup co-packing project for Crystal Spring Farm in 2023. Courtesy of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program

Externally, MCHPP will aim to expand its farm partnerships, adding co-packing opportunities as a means of support beyond existing purchasing and gleaning collaborations. The organization’s Community Kitchen coordinator, Randy Forrester, explained that “through co-packing efforts, farms will be able to create value-added products from excess or blemished produce and develop new revenue sources.”

Additionally, this funding will support MCHPP and the Merrymeeting Food Council’s ongoing efforts to make the space available for startup food businesses to incubate and grow.

“Here at MCHPP, we recognize that in order for all of our community to have access to healthy, nutritious food, the food system must work for all who participate in it,” Chatalbash said. “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to continue working towards a more equitable, just, and sustainable food system in our local community.”