In a recently published letter, Rep. Jaime Foster explains how a new $10 million state agriculture program will help thousands of residents in Connecticut who are challenged to feed their families.    

Funds will be used to address food insecurity by purchasing CT Grown products for drive-through distributions and extending the availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at farmers markets.

"This financial support will make a meaningful dent in food insecurity in Connecticut, which impacted 11% of households prior to the pandemic. Food insecure homes lack sufficient healthy food to maintain health and well-being," wrote Rep. Foster, who represents the 57th House District which includes Ellington and East Windsor.

This new program comes in addition to $1.45 million that was previously allocated to programs that support farmers and food access in Connecticut, including CT Grown for CT Kids; the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; the Senior’s Farmers Market Nutrition program; and Foodshare’s drive-through distribution.

"Importantly, the benefits aren’t limited to the participants — studies have documented improvement to local economies, farmers market revenue and increase in total sales at participating vendors. All in all, no mater how you look at it, this $10 million investment is a rooted-in-science win for Connecticut," Rep. Foster wrote.

Read Rep. Foster's entire letter in the Journal Inquirer here.