Dear Senior Food Program Partner,
This newsletter includes important updates about Maine Senior FarmShare (MSFP) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), as well as recipes tailored to CSFP box contents. It also includes information on National Nutrition Month and grant resources for food pantries.
Openings in the CSFP Program for Seniors!
The CSFP program provides a large box of shelf-stable foods each month for pick-up by participating seniors. Our Department works with the Area Agencies on Aging to distribute the free boxes at sites in every county. Currently we have openings in every county to enroll more seniors. Please help us promote this exciting news by sharing these and the link below with your networks. If a senior is eligible for SNAP, they are eligible for CSFP. Participation in CSFP does not impact their existing benefits. New income figures were updated in February that broaden eligibility to more seniors. Sign-up for CSFP is easy, and we have plenty of openings statewide.
Sign-up begins April 1 for the 2022 Maine Senior FarmShare season! New this year, MSFP can help connect senior housing facilities and senior-serving organizations with participating farmers that offer delivery. Please reach out to us if you would like support with this. Most seniors prefer to visit their local farm stand or farmers’ markets to select their MSFP produce, but we are excited to make the program available to more seniors who may not have transportation. The final list of participating farmers will be posted on the DACF website in late March and shared via this newsletter (among many other channels) in early April!
CSFP still has an abundance of peanut butter, so we incorporated it into many of our monthly recipes, including a tasty West African peanut soup. We also included a homemade tortilla recipe and a cheesy pasta bake. Download Recipes.
March is National Nutrition Month! Make sure to follow along with Maine SNAP-Ed's Instagram this month as they share a variety of nutrition resources. If you know of resources specifically oriented for seniors, please let us know by emailing:
seniorfarmshare.AGR@maine.gov
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Maine DACF is releasing an updated list of grant resources for Maine food pantries and food distribution sites. Several have upcoming spring deadlines so be sure to check them out. Please let us know if we’ve missed any opportunities we should share.
As always, thank you again for everything you do for Maine seniors!
The DACF Senior Food Program Team
Division of Agricultural Resource Development
Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
28 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0028
Telephone: (207) 287-3491
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