The New Haven Food Policy Council (NHFPC) meets on the third Wednesday of each month at the bright and early time of eight in the morning. The meetings are held in City Hall, which is technically not open until nine. Attendees knock on the door to be let into the building and slip into one of the conference rooms upstairs. Despite the early hour, meetings are very well attended!
The NHFPC is comprised of several working groups, all addressing different food issues. There’s the Food Assistance Working Group (called “fawg” for short), which is working to improve communication between food pantries and track who is using emergency food assistance programs; the City Farm and Garden Working Group, which aims to increase community gardening and access to locally grown food; the Cooking and Food Education Group, which runs cooking demos and also trains people to teach others to cook; and the School Food group, which works to increase access to meals in schools year-round.
These working groups exist because people who care decided to work on the issues they care about. For the last few months, the NHS Community Building & Organizing staff have been working with New Haven Food Policy Council members to address food insecurity in Newhallville. This project, too, arose from people passionate about their neighborhood deciding to improve it. The Sustainable, Organic, Unprocessed, and Local Food (SOUL Food, for short) working group, led by Tennille Murphy of Kidz Kook, developed out of a strong desire to focus specifically on food issues in Newhallville. The SOUL Food coalition aims to increase access to healthy, locally grown food, to create jobs for residents by developing an indoor farm and a community kitchen, and to support working people who want to eat healthier but don’t know how. Through this work, the SOUL Food coalition intends to beautify and revitalize the Shelton-Ivy intersection, turning each of the four corners (The school, the Ivy Street Greenhouse, St Andrew’s Church, and the abandoned lot) into a vibrant hub for community gatherings, learning opportunities, and delicious food.
Why is NHS involved in a food project? Of course, food is a central theme in this work, but it is not the only theme. Healthy food and good jobs are part of healthy neighborhoods, and residents become neighbors when they break bread together. We are excited to be able to support a resident-driven, grassroots project, and we can’t wait to see what comes of this exciting work.
To get involved in the SOUL Food coalition, contact Tennille Murphy at Kidz Kook Association, kidzkooknhct@gmail.com
To learn more about the Food Policy Council and the ways you can help ensure everyone has access to good quality, healthy food, go to http://www.feednewhaven.org/ or email staff@nhfoodpolicycouncil.org
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