Garrett County Community Food Network
Garrett County Community Food Network (GarrettCountyFood.com) is a grassroots community effort to index food security resources and provide access to data and supporting infrastructure information to support both those seeking food resources and the individuals working within systems to improve access and available resources for these individuals.
This resource combines and indexes currently available resources for a convenient one-stop experience for food security in Garrett County. As a grassroots initiative, funded in part through CareFirst, the Maryland Department of Health, and local community members, this website is designed to be built not just for our community, but with our community and those with lived experiences and the knowledge to implement structural supports for food security. You can be a part of this initiative! Reach out via the contact page to get in touch with our project leader.
History
About The Original Go! Garrett County / Garrett County Health Department Campaign
We’re pleased to introduce you to our community of collaboration!
Partnerships are the key to successful initiatives, and this is no exception! The Population Health, Innovation & Informatics unit within the Garrett County Health Department received a funding award in 2022 to create a food security subcommittee within our Health Planning Council to ensure issues related to food security are included as a community priority. In addition, the funding (SPINE) allowed GCHD to improve access to fresh local produce in remote areas of the county.
A formalized partnership was created with the Western Maryland Food Council, adopting the Garrett County chapter as the subcommittee for the Health Planning Council in 2022. An Action Group titled, Food Council is the centralized community engagement hub influencing Garrett County’s Community Health Improvement Plan. https://mygarrettcounty.com/groups/social-determinants-of-health/ All are encouraged to join and participate in the decisions around food security that impact many of our friends and neighbors!
Garrett Growers is the farmer cooperative supplying the produce and transportation to ensure our Veggies On The Move initiative is fully stocked and available in both Kitzmiller and Friendsville once a week. Our local library system graciously allows us to stand the markets up at their locations in each community, while our local DHS guides community members through the SNAP benefit process.
A TREMENDOUS Thank You To All Of Our Partners!
Garrett County Health Department, Western Maryland Food Council, Garrett Growers, Garrett County Government, Garrett County University of Maryland Extension, Ruth Enlow Libraries of Garrett County, + Our Fantastic Garrett County Community!
