CARIBOU, MAINE — Dixie Shaw, the director of hunger and relief services for Catholic Charities Maine, was a featured presenter at the eighth Bishop Begley Conference on Appalachia (BBCA) on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Hayesville, N.C.
The conference theme was “Food Insecurity in Far Western North Carolina,” and Shaw’s presentation offered ways to reduce rural food insecurity through partnerships and creativity.
Shaw has worked for Catholic Charities Maine since 1987, and during her time with the agency, she has grown a small home supplies depot and food pantry into a comprehensive model to sustain the needs of those who are hungry and vulnerable in Aroostook County. More than 27,000 residents (over 35 percent of The County’s population) receive food assistance from Catholic Charities Maine.
In 2013, Shaw launched Farm for ME, a program established to add fresh vegetables to the mix of food distributed by Catholic Charities Maine through its Food Bank to the 24 food pantries it supplies across northern Maine. In 2014, she added a “glean team” to collect crop overages from local farms. In 2016, the total harvest, including gleaned and donated crops, was more than 300,000 pounds of fresh, locally grown, nutritious vegetables.
Thanks to a partnership she forged with former food processor Northern Girl of Van Buren, many of the vegetables were flash-frozen to provide healthy options for pantry clients all year long.
As part of the conference, attendees learned how food insecurity manifests itself in rural areas and, through presenters like Shaw, examined creative ways in which to address the problems and challenges and make a real difference for individuals, families, and communities.
For more information or to learn how to help the Farm for ME efforts, visit www.ccmaine.org/farm-for-me.
