Today, U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton made key visits to Cape Ann, including meeting with leaders of several regional hunger-relief nonprofits to discuss the state of local food insecurity and tour The Open Door Food and Nutrition Center.
Later in the day, Moulton met with Essex leaders and visited the town’s wastewater treatment plant and the Essex riverfront to examine recent flooding and the need for dredging.
Starting the day in Gloucester, Moulton met with executives from organizations that benefited from his efforts in securing federal fiscal 2022 Community Project Funding to address food insecurity.
“No one in our community should ever go hungry, yet one in three adults across Massachusetts are struggling to put food on the table,” said Congressman Moulton. “As I work at the federal level to reduce food prices and protect critical resources like SNAP benefits, I’m extremely grateful for organizations like The Open Door and North Shore hunger-relief nonprofits that work tirelessly to provide healthy food to local people.”
Joining the congressman’s visit were executive leaders from The Open Door, The Salem Pantry, Citizens Inn, Our Neighbors Table, Beverly Bootstraps, and Acord Food Pantry. Also in attendance were Mass Law Reform Institute Senior Policy Analyst Pat Baker, Massachusetts Senator Bruce Tarr, Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga, and Dru Tarr from Massachusetts Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante’s office.
“North Shore hunger leaders met with Congressman Moulton and his team to highlight the perfect storm of issues driving food insecurity rates in the district and across the Commonwealth,” said Julie LaFontaine, President and CEO of The Open Door. “At The Open Door, we have seen a 30% increase in visits to our food pantries, mobile markets, and meal programs over the past year. There is a strong collaborative will among the group to stabilize households in our communities, and we are grateful to have our Congressman at the table to help find solutions.”
Last year, The Open Door helped stabilize the lives and health of 9,836 people from 4,952 households through the distribution of 1.98 million pounds of food during approximately 77,000 visits, marking a 30% increase in requests for food assistance from 2022.
“We’re hoping Congressman Moulton can bring the issue of food insecurity in Massachusetts to the Biden Administration to provide more resources and address the rising need here in the Commonwealth due to the cost of housing, the cost of groceries, and the aging population of low-income individuals who are food insecure and have significant medical bills,” said Pat Baker, Mass Law Reform Institute Senior Policy Advocate.
Following his visit to The Open Door, Moulton toured the Essex Wastewater Treatment Plant at Centennial Grove to learn about needed upgrades and challenges with PFAS “forever chemical” mitigation in light of new federal standards. He then met with town officials at the Essex Marina to better understand Essex’s significant challenges from flooding of the Essex River and the urgent need for comprehensive dredging.
This is Moulton’s second visit to the North Shore in as many months. In March, the congressman visited Manchester, Beverly, and Salem following $13.2 million in FY24 federal funding benefiting local projects and organizations. Among those benefiting from that funding are the Town of Manchester ($959,752 for PFAS mitigation of its municipal water system), Pathways for Children in Gloucester ($1,330,000 in operating funds), and the Town of Rockport ($959,752 for sewer system and wastewater treatment plant upgrades).
