About Us

Real Food CT, founded in 2019, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Newtown, CT. We believe that healthy food is an integral part of a healthy life. Too many people in our region of Connecticut are hungry and food pantries lack adequate amounts of healthy food options. We are connecting local farms and hunger relief organizations to provide neighbors in need with the nutrition they deserve. We serve Fairfield County, Litchfield County, and New Haven County.

  • We establish and manage Small Farm Giving Gardens where we grow fruits and vegetables for local donation.
  • We partner with local farmers by collecting their excess harvest, and delivering it to recipients in our donation network.
  • We train young farmers and we mobilize and educate local residents who care about insuring access to healthy food for everyone.
  • We are establishing a Food Hub to distribute locally grown, healthy food to people who need it.

2023 Milestones

2

Real Food CT
Production Gardens

8

Young Farmer Interns
trained on Agricultural skills

150

Volunteers Helping Feed
Neighbors in Need

20

Farm Surplus
Partners

15

Recipient
Organizations

30,000

Pounds of Fresh
Produce Donated


Vision, Mission & Values

Vision: We believe everyone deserves access to healthy food.

Mission: Real Food CT tackles rising food insecurity by connecting regional farms, including our own, to provide healthy options for vulnerable populations. We train young farmer interns, mobilize food system partnerships, and maximize our regional farm network to make sure locally grown produce goes where it is needed most.  Focused on sustainability, we advocate for improved local infrastructure, envisioning a robust food hub to efficiently connect farmers with hunger relief, schools, hospitals, and healthcare initiatives.to as many people as possible.

We Value:
Sustainability: Nurturing our farmland with Regenerative Farming practices, reducing the need for chemical inputs, and increasing the nutrient density of the food we eat.
Food Justice: Building supply chains that ensure fair distribution and access to healthy food for everyone.
Local Farms: Promoting and supporting a vibrant local food economy
Education: Training young farmers and promoting the value of a strong local food system
Health: Preventing disease and promoting prosperity with healthy and delicious food choices
Diversity: Appreciating the value of diversity in food culture, and lifestyle


Our Partners

We seek to work and collaborate with all stakeholders in our food system. Our partnerships include regional farms, farmer’s markets, schools and universities, chefs, non-profits, land-owners, foodservice organizations, and policy influencers.

Production Partners

Real Food CT manages two farm locations:

Sticks and Stones Farm
171 Huntingtown Road, Newtown, CT
This 10,000 square foot garden is our home base and primary giving garden. Our hoop house resides there, as well as a farm stand with refrigeration.

The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary
3 Old Farm Road, Newtown, CT
This inspiring non-profit organization is developing a beautiful animal sanctuary and education center in honor of Catherine’s kind spirit. We are managing their 30 large raised bed gardens covering 30,000 square feet in their meadow, growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for donation.

Donation Partners

Local farmers and other producers who donated their excess harvest:

  • Sport Hill Farm – Easton, CT
  • Waterview Farm – Monroe, CT
  • Moss Creek – Newtown, CT
  • Shorts Farm – Newtown, CT
  • Newtown Victory Garden – Newtown, CT
  • Newtown High School Greenery Class – Newtown, CT
  • Home Gardeners – Newtown, CT
  • Gazy Brothers – Oxford, CT
  • Laurel Glen – Shelton, CT
  • Hidden Gem Orchard – Southbury, CT
  • Daffodil Hill – Southbury, CT
  • Waldingfield Farm – Washington, CT
  • Fort Hill Farm, New Milford, CT
  • Hungry Reaper Farm, Morristown, CT
  • Sunset Farm, Naugatuck, CT
  • New Pond Farm, Redding, CT
  • Towns Farm – Morris, CT

Farmers Markets

We partner with these Farmers Markets:

  • Newtown Farmers Market
  • Mason’s Farm Market Store
  • Monroe Farmers Market

Work-Study Partner

  • Sacred Heart University

Donation Recipients

  • Community Food Rescue – Danbury, CT
  • Sterling House – Stratford, CT
  • Bridgeport Rescue Mission – Bridgeport, CT
  • Thomas Merton Center, Bridgeport, CT
  • FAITH Food Pantry – Newtown, CT
  • Calvary Church, Southbury, CT
  • Southbury Food Pantry – Southbury, CT
  • Monroe Food Pantry – Monroe, CT
  • Fridgeport, Bridgeport, CT
  • Newtown Congregational Church – Newtown, CT
  • Walnut Hill Community Church – Bethel, CT
  • Wilton Food Pantry – Wilton, CT
  • Little Free Pantry on Skokorat – Seymour, CT

Distribution Partners

  • U.S. Food Rescue
  • Meals on Main Street


History

2019

In 2019, a small team of volunteers began the restoration of a 10,000 square-foot garden at Sticks and Stones Farm in Newtown, CT. From that land, we produced and donated 700 pounds of food to local food pantries, senior centers, and other residents in need. In addition, Real Food CT partnered with the Newtown High School Greenery class. From their garden, we collected and donated 100 pounds of harvest that would otherwise have gone to waste in the summer heat.

2020

In 2020, Real Food CT established itself as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and raised over $40,000 through grants, private donations, and the Sustainable CT Match Fund. We used the funds to add infrastructure including a season-extending hoop house run on donated solar panels, two farm stands, irrigation, seeds, farm supplies, and summer internships for college and high school students.

We teamed up with the CVH Animal Sanctuary and transformed their 30,000 square-foot area of 30 raised beds into a production garden. We kicked off our Farm surplus program, adding 3 donation partners. Between our own production gardens and our donation partners, we donated a total of 10,000 pounds of food.

2021

In 2021, we ramped up our donation network to 14 Farmers donating excess produce, 4 Farmers Markets, and 12 recipient organizations in 8 surrounding towns. We extended our irrigation, added refrigeration to our farm stand at Sticks and Stones, and received the generous donation of a delivery van. We were able to hire and train six new interns in our Young Farmer Training program.

This year we hosted our first annual fundraising event, the “Seed-To-Table Fall Celebration”. The sold-out event featured local chefs preparing delicious, healthy dishes made from ingredients donated by local Farms and other local food producers.

2021 Annual Report

2022

For the second year in a row, we donated over 30,000 lbs of locally grown, fresh produce to hunger relief organizations in our region.  We were awarded a CT Department of Agriculture Farm Viability Grant to help us complete our “Small Farm Model” at Sticks and Stones Farm and work on a process to duplicate it in our region, with a priority on areas that don’t have access to farming opportunities.

We added a full-sized greenhouse and new tractor at the farm, kicked off our Little Sprouts garden program, and enjoyed another incredible season of internships, volunteers, and community service.

2022 Annual Report

2023

For the third year in a row, we donated over 30,000 lbs of locally grown, fresh produce to our network.  We now work with 20 farm partners and 15 different hunger relief organizations in our Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven counties.  2023 brought seven new board members to our team focused on making our efforts sustainable and expanding our reach in the future. 


We ran our first Food Hub pilot to purchase food from our network of farmers to deliver to hunger relief partners with an organization called Meals on Main Street.  U.S. Food Rescue also became a delivery partner for surplus produce. We kicked off our first Family Farm and Fun Day and began to roadmap our future food and farm ecosystem.

2023 Annual Report


Our Team

Founder, Sean Fitzpatrick, has 20 years of experience as a nutrition, health, and fitness coach. His career has been based on passionate belief that access to nutrient-dense food is an absolute necessity for the health of this and future generations. Sean’s business experience, along with his observation that growing numbers of people are experiencing food insecurity, combined to make Real Food CT his life work.

Board of Directors
Sean Fitzpatrick, Founder, President
Keric Kenny, Vice President
Rory O’Kane, Finance Chair
Kim Roberts, Events Chair
David Haze
Nancy Zychek
Lisa Rioni
Chip Parrish
Sean McCormick
Shirin Bhan
Bryan Dougherty

Executive Director
Sean Fitzpatrick

Garden, Operations and Delivery Management
Nancy Zychek
David Haze
Kim Cosar
Rebecca Walsh