DeLauro Visits North End Action Team Farmers’ Market

MIDDLETOWN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today visited the North End Action Team (NEAT) Farmers’ Market in Middletown. She toured the Kids’ Market, where local children can choose fruits and vegetables to bring home and share with their families. The Kids’ Market is cosponsored by NEAT and the Salvation Army.

“Fresh, local fruits and vegetables are a critical part of children’s development and healthy eating habits,” DeLauro said. “Anti-hunger and nutrition efforts like these need to be strengthened, not cut, as some in Congress are attempting to do. Food stamps are crucial for American children, some 21 million of whom rely on them. In 2010, right here in south central Connecticut, one in seven households did not know where their next meal was coming from. This is unconscionable.

“Unfortunately we saw a Farm Bill passed through Committee just this week that would cut over $16 billion from food stamps, while doing nothing to truly change the current practice of agriculture subsidies going to rich special interests. This would mean as many as three million Americans would lose access to food stamps and nearly 300,000 children would lose access to the free school meals they need to thrive. This is immoral and I will fight these cuts every step of the way. But groups like NEAT and programs like the Kids’ Market remind us that there are many people in Connecticut who are trying to do the right thing and ensure everyone has access to the fresh, healthy foods they need to thrive. I applaud them for their efforts.”

As the former senior Democrat on the congressional committee that funds the Agriculture Department, which runs the food stamp program, DeLauro is a longtime champion for nutrition and anti-hunger programs in Connecticut and across the nation. When the last Farm Bill was passed in 2008, DeLauro was part of an effort to increase food stamp funding in that bill.

NEAT is run on the belief that a grassroots effort is the best way to develop resident-driven leadership to determine priorities, assess problems and develop solutions to neighborhood issues.