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It would be remiss to start my first note of the New Year without recognizing the horrific flooding that took place up and down New England's coastlines this past week. Like so many coastal communities across the region, two back-to-back storms swept away landmark fishing structures (including the iconic fish shacks above at Willard Beach in South Portland, a few blocks from my house), roads, wharfs, homes and businesses.
The Partnership supports organizations like the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, a nonprofit that strives to ensure that fishermen have the community infrastructure and environmental resources to maintain Maine's coastal cultural identity and sustain vibrant working waterfronts for current and future generations of Maine fishermen. To support the Working Waterfronts in Maine after the storms click here.
As we recognize in our report, "small and midsize farms, fisheries and food businesses already experience extraordinary economic pressures due to the industrialization of our food system" - New England is no exception. We must come together to support our coastal and fishing communities; this means rebuilding and preserving our working waterfronts and buying local and regional seafood. This is the only way we can ensure our region - and nation - are resilient in the face of new climate challenges.
Leah
Project Director, New England Feeding New England
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Local Food Counts Project
Part of the 10-year New England Feeding New England project is to conduct Local Food Counts in five of the New England states. We have assembled a team of lead analysts and research assistants in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and now Rhode Island and Maine, in collaboration with Farm to Institution New England.
If you buy, sell or serve regionally grown foods, take the Local Food Counts survey and be a part of the 30x30 goal!
Local Food Counts data from all six of the New England states will enable us to better understand what percent of our food supply is being grown, sold and consumed in the region.
*Vermont's Local Food Count data was collected in 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020 and VT Farm to Plate developed the peer reviewed methodology and the process roadmap we are following.
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The Partnership continues to share our report, A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience across the region. Over the last month, Holly Fowler of Northbound Ventures spoke at the New Hampshire Food Alliance Cafe Series on the role of market channels in our food system and their impact in New Hampshire. James Harrison, Interim Director of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative spoke at the Massachusetts Food System Forum in Holy Cross, MA, on the unique role Massachusetts can play in working toward the 30 by 30 goal and Ellen Kahler, Vermont Farm to Plate, presented to legislators at the Vermont Senate and House Agricultural Committees. In the ocean state, Rhode Island Food Summit attendees heard from RI Commerce partner, Julianne Stelmaszyk, on building food system resilience. The main focus of all these presentations is to explore what it would take for various sectors of our food economy to produce, harvest, raise and grow 30% of New England's food supply to be consumed in the region by 2030. | |
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James Harrison is the Interim Executive Director at the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, one of our state organization partners.
MFSC focuses on advancing food policy in the Commonwealth. The presentation discussed how various entities in Massachusetts can help move toward and our goal to be regionally self-reliant by 2030.
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Holly Fowler, PhD led the Market Demand Team that focused on the market channels we have as part of Volume 4 of our report.
Holly shared what the team learned and held a discussion on the implications for the future of New Hampshire's food system. Listen to the recording here.
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Thank you to all of the attendees for their insight, ideas and energy! | |
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New England Feeding New England and Agroforestry
At the next Vermont Farm to Plate Agroforestry Priority Team meeting, we'll discuss the NEFNE research, and the role agroforestry could play in moving toward the 30% by 2030 goal. If 30% of the food consumed in New England was produced here, what might this mean for agroforestry as a means of production, climate mitigation, and conservation?
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Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in collaboration with MA Food System Collaborative and others, put forth a Farmland Action Plan with recommendations on how the Commonwealth can preserve and expand the economic and environmental viability of their farms.
There are more than 7,000 farms in the state and nearly 500,000 acres of farmland - the plan addresses their three primary challenges - protection, access and viability - and provides steps to overcome them.
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In 2035, all Vermonters will be food secure. Vermont Farm to Plate's new Vermont Vermont Food Security Roadmap outlines the tools, knowledge and resources needed so that every person in the state has the food they want and need to be healthy and nourished. Climate change, supply chain impacts and other challenges drive this need to secure our food supply.
The Roadmap is a collaborative effort of the F2P Network, researchers, partner organizations, and Vermonters who contributed their personal expertise regarding food security.
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Rhode Island Food Policy Council debuted their new Rhode Island Food System Factbook this week. It holds the best available federal, state and county data about RI's food system. You can watch the webinar here to listen to a conversation about what community-based research is needed to advance a more resilient, equitable and sustainable food system. | | |
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The NH Food Alliance is spearheading the development of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan and need your input and participation to create a plan that is both comprehensive and impactful.
Learn more about how to get involved by joining the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan Action Team!
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Maine's Climate Council, housed at the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, is creating strategies to reach 30% Maine food consumption by 2030, which aligns with NEFNE's 30x30 goal. Because Maine has the largest proportion among the New England states of farmland and fisheries, it is generally recognized that Maine will have to overachieve on production to help the region to reach its 30% consumption goals. | | |
CT Department of Agriculture is a proud partner of the CT Farm to School Collaborative, a network of people working on and engaging with Farm to School in the state. The department is working to update their procurement standards so that more local and regional foods can be provided by farmers and food producers and therefore, accessible to students and families [see more on pages 28 & 29] | | |
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A year following substantial investments by the Biden-Harris Administration in the USDA, coupled with the passage of the Growing Climate Solutions Act in December 2022, the USDA is making strategic investments to de-risk the transition to climate-smart agriculture for corporations and remove barriers to market-driven solutions such as carbon-markets.
This webinar will explore the trajectory and impact of USDA investments in Conservation and Climate-Smart programs on climate resilience and farm viability in New England. The exploration aims to discern whether these investments are propelling the region toward a transformative shift in the food system or merely fortifying existing models and systems.
Learn More
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Our Partnership is actively talking about how to align and work together across our states to most effectively distribute this supply chain funding.
Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program (RFSI)
The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is partnering with states to invest in food supply chain resilience, farm and food business market access, and value-added agriculture industry development. As targeted investment in the middle of the food supply chain, the RFSI program aims to fill supply chain gaps. Each state was required to submit a plan outlining how they intend to use their USDA allotment.
To learn more about the RFSI program in your state: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Maine.
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Northeast USDA Regional Food Business Center (NE-RFBC)
The NASDA Foundation serves as the grant administrator, project lead and fiduciary liaison with USDA Staff for the NE-RFBC which will receive $30 million in funding to develop and amplify local and regional supply chains with a strong emphasis on building equity and community resiliency in 11 states including New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Delaware, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Subawards will open in mid-2024 for technical assistance (providers were chosen by state) to offer guidance and training to local producers and food and farm business owners, with an emphasis on tailoring support to the unique Northeast food systems. Targeted financial assistance will be awarded in the form of Business Builder grants to individual food businesses seeking support to access additional capital, supply chain coordination and other barriers to expansion in early 2025.
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How much additional land is needed in agricultural production to achieve 30% resiliency?
Scaling production requires land, labor and crop diversification. An additional 990,000 acres (~1,543 sq. miles or roughly an area the size of Rhode Island) in farmland production is needed across New England in order to achieve regional food security by 2030. While New England waters can provide adequate fish and seafood to meet regional dietary demand, we need to encourage retention of harvest for local consumption by preserving commercial landing sites.
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This research is not prescriptive, nor does it indicate how many acres each of the 6 New England states needs to bring into production. But given where the concentration of existing farmland exists in the region, it is reasonable to assume that northern Maine, Vermont, northern New Hampshire, and some sections of Massachusetts are the places most likely to increase production capacity.
In each of the State Briefs, we begin to explore what our existing land use in agriculture looks like by state and where there are opportunities to increase food production, but we hope to update those findings this year by modeling land use and available acreage.
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The Partnership is excited to introduce you to a few of the dynamic, innovative regional, state and community-level organizations we support.
Through this alignment, we can continue to work towards the New England Feeding New England goal of '30% by 2030!'
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The New England Food Hub and Processors Network (NEFHPN) aims to build a New England food system where local products can be harvested, packed, processed, ordered, transported, and delivered in service of the region's hospitals, K-12 schools, restaurants, universities, grocers, and consumers. The food hubs and processors in this network are values-aligned - working together toward equitable access to fresh, nourishing foods for all, and prioritizing support for local producers to grow, raise and catch food that are ecologically sustainable for our region.
The network is made up of 31 businesses and organizations and is led by a Network Coordinator team consisting of Betsy Skoda (Health Care Without Harm), Peter Allison (FINE), Katelyn Porter (NH Food Alliance) and Leah Rovner (New England Food System Planners Partnership).
If you are interested in learning more about or getting involved in the network, email Katelyn Porter, Value Chain Coordinator, directly at katelyn.porter@unh.edu.
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Thank you to the growing list of regional and state-level organizations who have invited us to speak about our Partnership and the report! | |
Understanding what it is happening across the nation in food systems work helps to inform and show us perspectives or opportunities we can think about here in New England - from news coverage and events to research endeavors - here are a few we're excited about | |
The New England Food System Planners Partnership (NEFSPP) is a collaboration amongst six state-level food system organizations, six-state agricultural agency representatives and Food Solutions New England (FSNE), a regional network that unites the food system community. Together, we are mobilizing our networks to impact local and regional food supply chains, in turn, strengthening and growing New England's food system. The Partnership works together to disseminate information on trends, challenges and opportunities in alignment with FSNE's New England Food Vision, and with hundreds of groups and organizations involved in food systems development across the region. | | | | |
