HartfordFood.org in 2001

Building the new website meant research. Certainly we have a bountiful amount of information on our current programs, but what about our old programs? A good place to start turned out to be archive.org and their Wayback Machine. The first version of our website that’s available comes from February 2001.

Buried in the deep tombs of cyberspace is a valuable and fascinating history of our organization, with plenty of information about past programs including Project Farm Fresh Start (aka Farm-to-School), the Grocery Delivery Service that we administered, and our involvement with the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. Loading on the Wayback Machine is unfortunately and unsurprisingly a little slow. To save some time, you can browse through our Past Programs page, which compiles a lot of the information about these programs along with some “Where are they now?” components. Further digging can certainly be done through the Wayback Machine, especially if you are searching for information about specific events in the past.

The structure of the website remained relatively untouched over this history. We had information on programs, some relevant events and important updates, but what was lacking was a consistently updated news page. We’ve updated our website to make news easier to navigate and update. We want this to be a regularly updated resource to help you follow what our organization does on a week-to-week basis because we want to show you how excited we are about Hartford Food System and the programs we do. You can also follow us on Twitter for relevant news articles regarding food security issues in Hartford and nationwide, as well as micro-updates about Hartford Food System events and updates.

Sunflowers, you say?

You might have also noticed our old logo browsing through the older versions of the website. We replaced this logo in 2005 with the current one you see at the top of our page. Our page received a much needed explosion of color in 2009/2010, replacing the black-and-whites and shades-of-grays with the bright yellow sunflowers.

These sunflowers have been rather emblematic of our organization for quite some time. At the very least, they’ve been an integral part of the design of our website. They’re an element that’s passed through twelve years of website updates, program changes, new programs, old programs, and many more. And you’ve probably become acquainted with them on the Hartford Farmers Markets posters that travel around the city by bus. Certainly we view them as a symbol of growth and bounty, but they’re also just darn pretty.

Consider this a how-to and a what-to-expect on our new website, as we continue to make updates to it. For a good pre-Internet history of Hartford Food System, we recommend this guide that we developed as part of World Hunger Year in 1999. In this guide, you’ll find pictures of the old Main Street Market, as well as a very detailed history of what we’ve accomplished since our program’s beginning.

Tradition is one thing that keeps us going. We’re extremely proud to have served Hartford for as long as we have and continue to look forward to every project we do. Who knows what our website will look like another twelve years from now, but we’re certain we’ll have made great strides in helping to make a healthier and more sustainable food environment for all of Hartford’s residents.