FOOD ACCESS

Eating well is essential to good health. In Frog Hollow, 33% of residents live below the poverty line, and 48% of households receive SNAP. Many families struggle financially and are food insecure. The neighborhood is considered a “food swamp” where places to buy low-cost, unhealthy food outnumber retailers with healthy options.

Food access is a core priority for Forge City Works, and we use social enterprises to accomplish our goals. The Farmers Market has been a place where corporate employees venture into the neighborhood, where seniors and SNAP recipients stretch their food dollars, and where communities co-mingle. Our vision for The Grocery on Broad is to continue and expand the impact of the Farmers Market into a neighborhood store available 6 days a week and stocking wholesome fresh foods.

In partnership, Connecticut Foodshare and Forge City Works are developing a sliding-scale pricing model for this new neighborhood grocery store. The grocery will be focused on increasing access to healthy and wholesome foods and staples that corner stores do not stock, operating as a social enterprise with a triple bottom line:

• To increase affordable access to high-quality, nutritious food in a dignified and respectful way.
• To host job training for Opportunity Youth and other individuals with barriers to employment and to create jobs in the neighborhood.
• To break even or generate a modest financial profit to reinvest in creating opportunities to empower people to improve their lives.