WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Wednesday that Haven’s Harvest, an environmental food recovery non-profit based in New Haven, is “Murphy’s Innovator of the Month.” Haven’s Harvest officially launched in January 2019, but the work began over three years ago when Lori Martin and Caleb MartinMooney began recovering food in the Greater New Haven area five nights a week and delivering to communities in need. 

Recognizing the devastating environmental effects of food waste, Haven’s Harvest’s goal is to utilize all good food, especially in communities of need. To do this, Haven’s Harvest has put together three programs: food recovery, which is volunteer driven and hyper-local; food advocacy, where the company supports state and federal legislation to support food donations; and food development, where they sell creative food products using recovered food. The company uses an app to employ a direct donor-to-receiver process, where food goes directly from Haven’s Harvest to community agencies, daycare centers, schools, elderly housing apartments, and dozens of other communities in need. This way Haven’s Harvest does not have to store the food in a warehouse, further mitigating food waste.  

Although the company is relatively new, Haven’s Harvest relies on the backing of over 70 community groups and non-profits that have the capacity to receive excess food, including support from the University of New Haven, Yale University, Quinnipiac University and Southern Connecticut State University. Haven’s Harvest addresses the disparity of access to healthy and nutritious food in the greater New Haven area by directing supplying food to neighborhoods that have high food insecurity rates. Last year, Haven’s Harvest recovered 978,000 pounds of food, which is estimated to be worth about $1.6 million. This food would have otherwise gone to waste. 

“Far too many people in Connecticut are dealing with food insecurity, and it’s thanks to Lori and Caleb’s great work that folks can rely on healthy, nutritious food that would have otherwise gone to waste. Haven’s Harvest has already made a big impact in the New Haven community in such a short amount of time, and I can only imagine what they’ll be able to do in the years to come. I’m happy to highlight their work, and I’ll continue to fight for policies in Washington to tackle this important issue,” said Murphy. 

“40 percent of the food produced is wasted, while 36 percent of the food insecure population in New Haven County has a household income too high to qualify for supplemental food support. We can tackle the food waste issue by redirecting the good food to people, while supporting policies that will address the economic disparities that allow food insecurity to exist. Our partners, donors, receivers and volunteers are passionate about making a difference in the Greater New Haven area with Haven's Harvest. These are kind and generous residents of Connecticut who step up and get involved. I am encouraged and energized by our partners,” said Lori Martin, Founder and Executive Director of Haven’s Harvest.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies – the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year. 

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