Sara Smith, the CEO of nOURish Bridgeport, which provides food to needy residents, says her organization is now facing operating challenges as the federal government cuts funding for programs addressing food insecurity.
“We've pared back hours already, but we're trying to keep everybody with a living wage, and I'm hustling right now,” Smith said.
Like many nonprofits in Connecticut, nOURish Bridgeoport is scrambling to make up for spending cuts by spending more on food and relying on donated food from private retailers. But NOURish Bridgeport faces additional challenges.
It also operates an indoor farm in Stratford, which Smith said benefited from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program setting aside funds for local school districts like Bridgeport’s to buy fresh food from farms.
Now she is openly wondering if local districts can still honor their contracts with the nonprofit, as advocates say the lack of federal funding will have ripple effects impacting impoverished residents.
Smith said the farm, the first of its kind in the state, has selling agreements with several local school districts. But she’s worried about their ability to pay. This comes after the federal government cut back on funding for programs such as the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program.
“They're trying to still fulfill their contract because they pay us just so we can keep growing it,” Smith said. “We have to sustain our operation. We don't make money on this. But the problem is they don't know if they're going to have the funding to honor the contracts with us."
Bridgeport Public Schools did not answer a request for comment.
NOURish Bridgeport also has a food pantry. They used to get regular deliveries of food from Connecticut Foodshare. But after cuts to the the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which delivers food at no cost to nonprofits like nOURish Bridgeport, the group now has to buy more of its food. Connecticut Foodshare recently said in a statement the cuts ended up cancelling at least 34 deliveries of fresh food.
Smith says they’re spending twice as much now compared to before the cuts. But she says the nonprofit is also deeping its already tight partnerships with other nonprofits and retailers.
“We share,” she said. “'Hey, we've got this load of Food Rescue. We can't store it. Can you have it?' We are trying to work together, because, listen, we got to feed people however and wherever we can.”
Food Rescue’s national site coordinator Haley Schulman said her organization, which sources their food from retailers, is critical for nonprofits because they also donate their food at no cost.
“We act as a supplemental source of food, but that supplemental source is that much more important right now,” Schulman said.
Retailers say they are stepping up, according to Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association. Pesce pointed out many already work closely with organizations like Connecticut Foodshare. The group sits on the association’s board, he said.
He says retailers have long-running food assistance and donation programs in place, but they are already at maximum capacity.
“These are for-profit businesses too,” Pesce said. “So where is that line? I don't know where that line is. They've been very generous in the past. They're going to continue to be generous, but they're never going to make up for these funding cuts.”
Faced with a lack of future funding from the federal government, groups like Connecticut Foodshare say the only real solution is appealing to the state, as well as donors, according to Jason Jakubowski, the organization's president and CEO.
“The solution is gonna have to be private individuals donating dollars so that we can buy food, or, obviously, the state being able to fully fund our CT map funding so that we can go out and buy food,” he said.
