Last updated Thursday, April, 2nd at 12:00pm. If you have resources to contribute please email info@ccfoodsecurity.org.
Helpful Links
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*Important note: Food pantries are essential businesses and many continue to operate. Due to health and safety concerns, many are operating at different times and locations than usual. We recommend that you call (contact information available through Wayside and Good Shepherd) to find out the most current information before arriving.
MAINE - Resources
CUMBERLAND COUNTY - Resources
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How to Access & Support Local Food
Check out the "Maine Farm Product & Pick Up Directory" below - a wonderful resource from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension that allows you to find farms near you and information on where to access their products.
Attend your local farmers market! Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry announced that farmers markets are exempt from 10 person limits. To find a market near you, click the image below.
Search the Portland Food Map to find and support local businesses that are still open doing take out and delivery.
COVID-19 Updates from Council Members
Information on School Meals during COVID-19 Closures
Schools in Cumberland County will be closed until April 27, 2020.
COVID-19 Translated Information & Materials
Excellent collection of resources by Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition.
You can find additional translated print resources about COVID-19 from the CDC here.
How You Can Help
- Donate to Full Plates, Full Potential Emergency Fund
- Donate or volunteer through Mainers Together
- Volunteer with Preble St. Soup Kitchen
- Support members of your community through opportunities posted in the Maine Coronavirus Community Assistance group
- "Check on neighbors and vulnerable community members to ensure they have a plan for accessing food, medicine, and other supplies. Should Mainers need help securing food, visit the “Find Food” section of our website to find a local resource.
- Donate to Good Shepherd Food Bank to support the increased demand and pressure food pantries will experience.
- Volunteer by contacting, Beth Tatro, Volunteer Manager, (207) 782-3554 ext. 1169 or btatro@gsfb.org."
Statement on COVID-19 from Executive Director, Jim Hanna
As COVID19 inspires fear and uncertainty in Maine communities and beyond, CCFSC remains focused on ensuring food access for people with limited income and others vulnerable to food insecurity. Nutritious food is a basic need and essential to health and wellness. As routine food access is disrupted by the spread of the virus, the most economically vulnerable are the first to suffer and the last to recover in times like this.
We know what it will take to end hunger. It should not require a national level emergency to force us to make basic investments in the economic and nutrition safety net. In Maine, nearly 186,000 people representing about 14 percent of the population experienced food insecurity in 2019. These members of our communities are part of the 37 million Americans who struggle with food insecurity.
On March 12, the US Congress proposed legislation that would increase the likelihood that low-income children, working people, seniors and families get access to nutritious meals during this crisis. Increasing and expanding SNAP, creating new ways to get children meals when school is closed and providing paid leave for people who have to deal with sickness are good ideas in an emergency and anytime.
At the same time, the Trump administration is still on track to implement the change in SNAP eligibility requirements which would take food benefits away from hundreds of thousands of people starting April 1. We also know from experience that, while food banks and pantries are the vanguard of emergency response in communities, they lack the capacity to meet all the need when stressed like this. Don’t forget that the majority of volunteers are senior citizens who are most vulnerable to the worst effects of the virus. We must make sure pantries and other food distribution points have the necessary resources. This would also be a good time to implement innovative ideas that have lacked investment like subsidized food delivery to seniors.
Calling 211 in Maine will connect you to food and other resources. You can also text your zip code to 1-800-548-6479 to locate a local emergency food provider and other support services. CCFSC has developed a Portland specific food resource guide. There is also a Cumberland County guide for food pantries on our web site.
It is important to rally now to keep our vulnerable neighbors healthy and secure. We also will need to remember these efforts as we develop solutions that will make food and economic insecurity a thing of the past. This commitment to healthy food for all must be in place whether we are experiencing a pandemic, a natural disaster or the normal rhythms of everyday life.
To learn more, you read Jim Hanna's Op-Ed in the Press Herald.
We know what it will take to end hunger. It should not require a national level emergency to force us to make basic investments in the economic and nutrition safety net. In Maine, nearly 186,000 people representing about 14 percent of the population experienced food insecurity in 2019. These members of our communities are part of the 37 million Americans who struggle with food insecurity.
On March 12, the US Congress proposed legislation that would increase the likelihood that low-income children, working people, seniors and families get access to nutritious meals during this crisis. Increasing and expanding SNAP, creating new ways to get children meals when school is closed and providing paid leave for people who have to deal with sickness are good ideas in an emergency and anytime.
At the same time, the Trump administration is still on track to implement the change in SNAP eligibility requirements which would take food benefits away from hundreds of thousands of people starting April 1. We also know from experience that, while food banks and pantries are the vanguard of emergency response in communities, they lack the capacity to meet all the need when stressed like this. Don’t forget that the majority of volunteers are senior citizens who are most vulnerable to the worst effects of the virus. We must make sure pantries and other food distribution points have the necessary resources. This would also be a good time to implement innovative ideas that have lacked investment like subsidized food delivery to seniors.
Calling 211 in Maine will connect you to food and other resources. You can also text your zip code to 1-800-548-6479 to locate a local emergency food provider and other support services. CCFSC has developed a Portland specific food resource guide. There is also a Cumberland County guide for food pantries on our web site.
It is important to rally now to keep our vulnerable neighbors healthy and secure. We also will need to remember these efforts as we develop solutions that will make food and economic insecurity a thing of the past. This commitment to healthy food for all must be in place whether we are experiencing a pandemic, a natural disaster or the normal rhythms of everyday life.
To learn more, you read Jim Hanna's Op-Ed in the Press Herald.
COVID-19 & the Food System
For more information, please visit this living document that includes links to articles and research about COVID-19 is impacting and affecting the food system.
