Fighting regional hunger? Daniel's Table in Framingham has an app for that

FRAMINGHAM — Congressman Jim McGovern says the country has more than enough resources to end hunger.

“What we lack is the political will,” he said during an out-of-district visit Tuesday to Framingham nonprofit Daniel's Table.

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But few would question McGovern's will. He began working on developing an end to food insecurity while still an intern with U.S. Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota (no relation) in the late 1970s and early '80s. To this day, he holds listening sessions throughout the country to create solutions.

It was through community volunteering that he met David Blais, co-founder of Daniel’s Table.

Six years ago, McGovern and Congresswoman Katherine Clark helped Blais feed families from a food trailer. On Tuesday, McGovern — a Worcester resident who represents the 2nd Congressional District — returned to the nonprofit's Pearl Street headquarters to learn about its new app, Healthy Communities.

More: All Framingham Public Schools students to receive free meals in 2022-23

“This is priceless in the war against hunger… it gives us a real opportunity to solve this,” Blais said.

Healthy Communities connects clients and nonprofits on a city, state and national level. Through a series of questions, Blais said, the app determines how many days of food a client is missing per month. Once that number is calculated, the software determines how many nutritional components — protein, dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables — the client needs daily.

Daniel’s Table then distributes the necessary food to “make sure our families are getting a nutritious diet all the way through the month,” Blais said.

Getting the app to work

The app cost the nonprofit about $200,000 (raised through personal funds and donations) and was in development for more than five years.

In the beginning, “I could have thrown it in the virtual trash,” said Blais. But he was persistent, and launched Healthy Communities 2½ years ago.

The app also explores such problems as providing clothes for children, and can connect clients to resources and other organizations that can help.

Today, the app connects with about 3,000 clients.

“I’m inspired by coming here, this is the real work,” said McGovern, whose district includes Northborough, Upton, Mendon and part of Bellingham — but not Framingham. “We are not organized … in the federal government.”

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After years of advocating, the congressman said the White House will finally hold a conference for health. The last one was in 1969, when programs like the Women, Infants, & Children Nutrition Program (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were born.

An official date for the health conference has not yet been set.

Solving food insecurity

“The goal is to connect the dots and understand the intersectionality of this issue. If you’re hungry, you may have trouble with housing or health issues,” McGovern said.

The congressman added that the goal is to end hunger in the U.S. by 2030.

“There is more than enough food to end hunger,” Blais said.

In Framingham, Blais believes hunger and food insecurity can be solved in a year if the community and nonprofits can effectively communicate — a problem the Healthy Communities app aims to solve.

Ending hunger and food insecurity is close to Blais’ heart, as he dealt with such issues while growing up in Salem.

When Blais was 8, his father left and his mother became an alcoholic, then married one. Also, Blais' brother became a heroin addict, his sister distanced herself from the family and his dog was put to sleep.

By age 10, young David was taken from his home and placed with an elderly couple where he lived for a month to “get my life back in balance.” When he returned home, nearly all of the furniture was repossessed by Sears, Roebuck & Co.

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These challenges made food, especially nutritious food, hard to get — he and his family mostly ate mustard sandwiches and boiled chicken necks.

“I grew up with all that trauma, but food insecurity is the thing that affected me the most," Blais said. "I’m 66 now, I still carry it with me."

About 10 years ago, Blais and his wife, Alicia, were introduced to Mary’s Meals — a global organization started by two brothers who brought food behind the lines of the Bosnian War in 1992. Mary’s Meals feeds about 2.2 million children throughout the world.

Helping Framingham

The Blaises thought, if a single organization can provide millions of meals internationally, the couple could easily help Framingham residents.

Daniel’s Table was founded in 2012 out of not only a call to end hunger in Framingham, but also to honor their son, Daniel, who died 27 years ago.

“It’s a personal commitment both my wife and I have made to Daniel that we would continue fighting,” said David Blais.

The nonprofit mainly runs on donations from large organizations and volunteers. Blais highlights the “small, community donors,” as they are the ones who keep the doors open during summer, the hardest fundraising time of the year.

Starting this month, Daniel’s Table will restart its farmers market, which was stalled due to COVID-19. The nonprofit aims to create a “unique farm-to-bag experience” where people can shop for fresh produce, protein and more.

The farmers market also offers a Kids Corner, where children can participate in food-based crafts and games to teach them about nutrition as well as food demonstrations — such as how to best prepare carrots.

Alicia Blais, who serves as director of programming, has more than 35 years of restaurant experience and speaks to several Framingham schools about nutrition and food education.

“It's all about education," she said. "We don’t want to be taking care of you for a lifetime, that’s not the goal of any food program — ours is that you’re starting to eat nutritional… and eat what’s right for your family."

Daniel’s Table is now one of the largest food vendors in MetroWest, serving more than 2,500 people per month.

“After 10 years, we should have this program developed and we’ve missed a generation of children and families that are now entrenched in food insecurity… we have to have a sense of urgency in taking care of this,” said David Blais.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Rep. McGovern talks fighting hunger at Daniel's Table in Framingham