New county food resource to open next month in Biddeford
Longtime Good Shepherd Food Bank head Kristen Miale, Joe Moreshead of the Saco Food Pantry, Good Shepherd Food Bank's Kendall Penndorf and Mainspring Collaborative co-founder Megan Shapiro discuss hunger prevention efforts in York County at a panel Tuesday night in Biddeford. (Sydney Richelieu/Staff Writer)
BIDDEFORD — A new resource to fight growing food insecurity in York County will open its doors in September, hunger prevention advocates said at a Biddeford forum Tuesday night.
The York County Food Hub will help local pantries around the county by providing warehouse space to store food, refrigeration, freezer space and transportation. The hub is a nonprofit organization leading the effort to build the shared food security infrastructure that York County needs, president Alex Gramling said.
“This effort is critically important,” Gramling said. “The issue is so urgent.”
Related
The number of Mainers facing hunger continues to rise
The 7,500-square-foot space, located just off Interstate 95 at 20 Pomerleau St., will also feature a commercial kitchen and loading docks to help local food pantries meet their communities’ needs.
While a few regional anti-hunger organizations with similar models already exist in the state, this will be the first of its kind in York County.
“It’s all of the infrastructure that we need to scale and fight hunger here in York County,” Gramling said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Advertisement
THE STATS
Although York County is home to multimillion dollar oceanfront homes, idyllic towns and some of the best school systems in the state, many of its residents are vulnerable when it comes to food insecurity, advocates said during Tuesday night’s forum at The Lincoln Hotel.
Kendall Pendorff, a research and evaluation administrator for Good Shepherd Food Bank, said about 12.5% of York County residents deal with food insecurity — a percentage that is increasing year after year. That means about 27,000 people, including 7,000 children, are going hungry across the county.
York County has the second-lowest rate of food insecurity in Maine, just behind Cumberland County, but Pendorff said those numbers don’t capture the lived experience of going hungry.
“The cost of living is going up, the cost of food is going up and income disparity is increasing,” Pendorff said.
Alex Gramling, center, tells community members about the York County Food Hub at a panel on Tuesday. (Courtesy of York County Food Hub)
Food insecurity and income disparity also impacts different populations at different rates. Black households, those with single mothers, young people and older people are all more likely to experience food insecurity.
“There are pockets throughout York County that are really struggling to make ends meet,” Pendorff said.
Advertisement
Megan Shapiro, co-founder of Mainspring Collective in Kittery, said an average of 56 new households per month have shown up at the food bank since 2025.
It’s not a blip, it’s a trend, she said, and it’s rapidly growing in York County.
Related
Kittery nonprofit receiving $1M from Maine opioid settlement fund
Food insecurity does look like someone who is homeless, living on low income, or working two jobs, Shapiro said, “but it also looks like someone racing their kids to soccer practice and then catching the food pantry hours.
“It looks like the shipyard worker stopping in after work. It looks like two-income families. It looks like all of us.”
PANTRIES ARE STRUGGLING
York County residents have access to many pantries that stretch from Kittery and Kennebunk to Biddeford and Standish. But those pantries don’t always have everything they need to serve the community.
Joe Moreshead of the Saco Food Pantry feels this need on a daily basis.
Advertisement
He said Tuesday that the pantry has gone from serving just over 8,000 patrons in 2024 to more than 10,000 this year. Some of those patrons are new Mainers. Some are students working in Saco during the summer. Many of them are people who just can’t make ends meet.
“We used to think the pantry was a place of last resort,” Moreshead said. “Now, we’ve become a primary source of food for these families because they can come every day. I see the same people.”
Related
Maine set a goal to end hunger by 2030. What will it take to get there?
Saco Food Pantry can’t always keep up with the demand, Moreshead said, but having a resource like the York County Food Hub will help.
WHAT COMES NEXT
While the hub is on track to open next month, its team is still seeking funding to help the project continue.
The hub hopes to raise $3.5 million, Gramling said, and to build a five-year budget around that funding.
“I know we can do it. York County can do tough things,” he said. “We can feed York County together.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Aug. 20 to correct the name of Mainspring Collective.
Copy the Story Link
Tagged: food insecurity, food pantries, food pantry, homeless, homelessness, hunger
Sydney is a community reporter for Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel and previously reporter for the Courier and Post. Sydney grew up in Kennebunk and is a graduate. More by Sydney Richelieu
