UConn released new findings from a study on Wednesday detailing the level of food insecurity people are facing in different towns in Connecticut.
Research leaders, agriculture doctoral candidate Adam Rabinowitz and UConn Cooperative Extenstion Service food policy educator, Jiff Martin based their findings on whether residents had easy access to healthy foods and if they were "sufficiently" taking part in food assistance programs.
"Food security," as defined by the study was "measured by a population's access to enough healthy food for an active and healthy life. It factors in economics, easy access to retailers and on the percentage of eligible residents receiving food assistance," The Hartford Courant reported.
"What we're hoping is that this will help stimulate some reflection on the part of the towns and help them look inwardly about what they want to do to improve food security in their towns," Martin said.
The study found that Connecticut's most urban cities such as Hartford, New Haven, New Britian, Bridgeport, Windham, Waterbury, New London, East Hartford, North Canaan and Norwich were the "most at-risk to be food insecure."
On the other side, the towns that were least at risk were Weston, Darien, New Canaan and Easton.
The study further found rural towns such as Union, Sharon, Cornwall, Eastford, Norfolk, east Haddam, Sterling, Woodstock and Thompson were the least likely to have access to healthy food options.
The towns with the best retail choices for consumers were Manchester, West Haven, New Haven, Milford and others.
Some of the towns that relied the most on food assistance programs and public transportation were Norwich, Bridgeport, Ansonia and Windham. On the opposite side, towns like Union, Easton and Bethany relied the least on food assistance.
Researchers hope the new data will help local officials such as "town planners, school administrators, and parks and recreation leaders" better figure out how to feed the residents of Connecticut.
"There are a lot of people who have a say or influence that could alter a community's food security," Martin said. "They can use the study to show how well a town is meeting the needs of a person who is food insecure."
Click here to see a picture of the chart.
