Access to healthy food is very important for our health and well-being. That's why MaineHealth is offering hospital-based food pantries. In partnership with Good Shepherd Food Bank, MaineHealth opened the first 3 hospital-based food pantries in Maine! They are located in Farmington, Norway and Portland, Maine.
Providing healthy food to the communities we serve
Many Mainers have a hard time accessing healthy food at one point or another. Our food pantries offer fresh, frozen, shelf-stable healthy foods and local produce for free. Our goal is to give people access to food that supports and improves their health.
Our food pantry spaces are welcoming, dignified, and confidential. People who visit our food pantries have access to food that fits their health needs, as well as cultural and dietary preferences (when possible).
MaineHealth food pantry guiding principles
- Food is Medicine: The pantry recognizes that nutrition is an integral part of health and healing and aims to distribute nutritious foods, the information needed to use them, and support access to the resources necessary to cook and eat them.
- Empowerment: Patron, staff, and volunteer strengths are acknowledged, built upon, and validated. Feedback is regularly gathered and used to make decisions and improvements. The pantry creates and communicates clear expectations.
- Choice: The pantry utilizes a patron-choice model where people are able to choose which foods they would like to take.
- Safety: The pantry setting and activities ensure patrons, staff, and volunteers feel physically and emotionally safe. Each person is treated with respect, dignity, and kindness.
- Humility & Responsiveness: People of different backgrounds have access to food and resources that fit their cultural, linguistic, dietary, and health needs. Biases, stereotypes, and historical trauma are recognized and addressed.
- Collaboration: The pantry maximizes collaboration among care team members, community-based organizations, and patrons in program development and implementation.
- Sustainability: The pantry prioritizes local foods when possible and engages in a variety of efforts to reduce waste and environmental impact.
Principles adapted from Leah’s Pantry, Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
