Portland Public Health Receives $263,000 Grant for Sodium Reduction in Communities Program

Portland, Maine - Portland’s Public Health Department recently received $263,000 in funds from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Grant which was awarded to the State of Maine CDC to reduce the amount of high sodium foods in some of Cumberland County’s most vulnerable populations. The grant period is October 2014-October 2016. Portland is one of two local public health departments, along with the Maine CDC, funded from this grant award. Funds will be distributed from the City of Portland’s Public Health Division to MaineHealth and Good Shepherd Food Bank.

The goal of the grant is to increase the accessibility of lower sodium foods in our communities. This grant will work through cafeterias of hospitals and groceries disseminated through food pantries in Cumberland County.

“With one in three Maine residents experiencing high blood pressure, reducing sodium in our diets needs to be a priority,” said Alex Kanakis Hughes, MPH, Program Coordinator for the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program for the City of Portland. “This partnership between our local health department, the largest hospital system in the state and the largest and only food bank in Maine display a state-wide motivation toward tackling heart disease and stroke, starting with a reduction in sodium in some of our most vulnerable residents.”

MaineHealth will work with two of its member hospitals to increase availability and accessibility of lower sodium foods as part of a comprehensive nutrition policy in their cafeterias which are open to staff, patients and visitors of the hospitals. The member hospitals partnering on this project are Maine Medical Center and Spring Harbor Hospital. Please contact Naomi Anderson-Schucker for more information at 207.661.7554.

Deborah Deatrick, Senior Vice President of Community Health Improvement, offered, “We are thrilled to partner with the City of Portland to further advance our work in providing food to our employees, patients, and visitors that looks good, tastes good and is good for you.”

The Good Shepherd Food Bank will work to decrease the sodium content of foods they purchase for distribution to their 600 partner agencies as part of a comprehensive nutrition policy. In total, 15% of the food that Good Shepherd Food Bank distributes is purchased by the organization. Please contact Courtney Kennedy for more information at ckennedy@gsfb.org or 207.577.4847.


“We are excited to partner with Portland on this important initiative,” said Courtney Kennedy, Nutrition and Education Manager at Good Shepherd Food Bank. “With 1 in 7 Mainers relying on their local food pantry for the food they need each month, it’s crucial that the Food Bank distributes as much nutritious food as we can to our partner agencies.”