UConn Study Ranks Farmington High but Less Food Secure Than Neighbors

Farmington ranks 65th out of Connecticut’s 169 towns in terms of its “food security,” as defined by a new University of Connecticut study.

The report, “2012 Community Food Security in Connecticut: An Evaluation and Ranking of 169 Towns, looks at how food secure each of the state's towns are, with food security defined as "access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life."

Farmington does not rank with its neighbors Simsbury and Avon in the category of lowest risk for residents being food insecure, but in the next category “below average risk” for food insecurity. The next category is “higher than average.”   Towns are ranked in order from 1 to 169. For at-risk for food insecurity, Farmington ranks 65th. The index considers poverty and unemployment rates, vehicle ownership and educational attainment. Racial composition was not considered.  

Again, in the Food Assistance Ranking, Avon and Simsbury fall in the “lowest level of participation” for use of public services, while the study puts Farmington in the “below average” category. Public services include Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and federal school meal programs. It does not include use of food pantries. Here, Farmington ranks 104th.  

Finally, the study considers the availability of food for purchase both commercially, such as at grocery stores and at farmers markets and CSAs. Because Farmington has two grocery stores, a farmers market and several farm stands, it ranks high for food availability – “most accessible.” The study does not take into account affordability or quality of food. The town places 12th in this ranking. 

“Most residents in Connecticut have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living,” the study states. “Yet each year there are households that experience limited access to food due to a lack of money or other resources." 

Between 2008 and 2010, 12.7 percent of residents in Connecticut were living in food insecure households (38 percent of which were living in ‘households with very low food insecurity.’) 

Approximately one in seven Connecticut households reported there had been times in the past year when they did not have enough money to buy food that they needed.”