Grafton Food Pantry clients now have the choice of cold milk or any other refrigerated food product. It's thanks to a new, industrial-sized refrigerator donated to it from Dairy Farmers of America. 

​"It's well over two times the size, so we are able to stock additional perishables," said Jessica Melo, president of the Grafton Food Pantry board. " Having a larger fridge just gives us the flexibility to stock extra product and not worry about running now."

The pantry is serving roughly 160 families, up from 100 before the pandemic started. Melo said roughly half are elderly.​

"A lot of them may live in smaller places with smaller storage units for cold storage," Melo said. "So, they are particular about the items they take."

Randy Jordan said getting more dairy products in the hands of people who need it starts with distribution.

"I think milk has never really been giving out as a whole at food pantries because they never really has refrigerated space or the ability to do it," Jordan said. 

Jordan owns a dairy farm a few towns over in Rutland, and said it's full circle seeing dairy products stocked at a place like this. 

"I started this morning, milking cows, feeding cows, you bring the product here," Jordan said. "Now, I am going to go home and milk the cows again."

Long-time hunger advocate Rep. Jim McGovern said it's important to highlight efforts in smaller communities, and even more important to give people access to healthy, nutritious food. 

"Dairy products are good things for us to be able to have access to, but if you don't have the refrigeration, you can't have dairy products. You can't have perishable items," he said. "Without this, you're limited to what people have access to."

McGovern has been pushing for a nationwide conversation about hunger. He said President Joe Biden has agreed to host a health and hunger conference sometime in September.