FARMINGTON – The MaineHealth Food Pantry at the Franklin Community Health Network has received a sizable upgrade, along with a $5,000 donation from Hebert Construction. The location used to be a basement storage room, but has since been converted into a large open space with refrigeration units, shelving, and room for nutrition classes.
The pantry provides Franklin Community Health Network employees and patients with access to free, healthy food. Because the pantry is hospital-based, they exclusively provide foods that encourage healthy eating. Patients and staff members will find refrigerators and shelves stocked with produce, canned goods, and shelf-stable foods where they are welcome to grab a cart and take any food items they might need.
“The need for a hospital food pantry arose out of an increase of food insecurity and patients not having access to healthy foods,” Director of the Healthy Community Coalition LeeAnna Lavoie said. According to Lavoie, individuals living in poverty in Franklin County is almost 12%, and children living in poverty is almost 17% which is higher than the state average.
“This started with food insecurity spreading in our pediatric practices,” Lavoie said. MaineHealth identified families that were in immediate need of food, and in partnership with Good Shepherd Food Bank, they provided emergency food bags which eventually expanded to the adult family practices.
The pantry opened in June of 2021, and has since distributed over 30,000 pounds of food. They have also had over 1,500 visits to the food pantry, serving over 400 patients and care team members.
The majority of the donations received are from Good Shepherd Food Bank, but they also receive donations from Berry Fruit Farm, Emery Farm, Rustic Roots Farm, and the local gardeners. Good Shepherd Food Bank donates to the food pantry every second and fourth Friday, and Berry Fruit Farm comes to donate once a week based on their growing season.
Along with access to the food pantry, employees and patients have access to peer support, goal setting, healthy cooking classes, recipes, and menu planning with a health educator. Patients who are eighteen or older and are living with a chronic illness are eligible to participate in the Food as Medicine program, which is a free one-year program designed to help people improve their health through “nutritious food and lifestyle changes.”
“We have a lot of chronic disease in Franklin County, across the state, and across the country,” Lavoie said. “If you don’t have access to healthy food, it really impacts your health outcomes and quality of life.”
There are 26 sessions of direct education where patients learn how to cook certain meals and about the ways to promote a healthy lifestyle. Patients also receive ten meals a week, and the recipe for one of those meals is taught during the class so patients can try to make it on their own at home. Every patient that has enrolled in the Food as Medicine program has shown biometric improvements in their blood pressure, body fat percentages, and A1Cs.
Hebert Construction Project Manager Timothy Mancine presented the Healthy Community Coalition and the MaineHealth Food Pantry with a $5,000 donation to go towards funding the pantry.
“One of our biggest things as a company is we like to give back to the communities that we live and work in,” Mancine said. “We’re happy to give a donation to the food pantry today, and part of that is because of our subcontractors success, their efficiency, and the team that we work with here.”
The pantry is currently available for MaineHealth primary care patients and staff by referral only. Referred patients and employees are welcome to visit the food pantry anytime during business hours which are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anyone is welcome to donate to the pantry, provided that the donations only consist of healthy foods.
