ϳԹ is facing a growing rate of food insecurity. According to ϳԹ Foodshare, about one lack a steady source of food. So, the ϳԹ Department of Motor Vehicles is rolling out a new “pizza plate” to raise funds, and awareness.
Proceeds from the license plate will go towards ϳԹ Foodshare, the state’s largest food bank. Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled the plate Monday, which reads “The Pizza State” and features an image of the governor’s go-to pie.
“It’s got my favorite, a pepperoni pizza,” he said. “That’s not so bad!”
Jacob Jakubowski, CEO of ϳԹ Foodshare, commended the efforts of Gov. Lamont and his administration to partner with food banks. Jakubowski says hunger is no small issue in ϳԹ.
“There’s about 515,000 ϳԹ residents who don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Jakubowski said. “And it’s all across the state of ϳԹ. We serve all 169 towns. I can’t tell you that there’s one town that’s less affected than the other.”
Food banks in ϳԹ were strongly affected by slashes in federal funding cuts earlier this year. Food banks in anticipation of President Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.” But Jakubowski says food banks are still feeling the pressure.
“We’ve lost 35 trailer-loads of food,” Jakubowski said. “It’s about 1.6 million pounds of food that we were supposed to receive that we’re not receiving.”
Gov. Lamont called on people to pitch in and support CT Foodshare.
“I need more of you going to Foodshare and volunteering; I need more of you going to Foodshare and donating,” Gov. Lamont said.
The license plate is the latest in ϳԹ’s campaign to market its famed pizza across the U.S. The state also started a “playful food fight” earlier this month with billboards across New York City that ridiculed New York pizza.
The license plate is available at .