November - December 2023 | Issue 15 | |
A Note from our Project Director, Leah Rovner | |
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Winter offers us all the chance to pause and reflect - snow is falling on the ground, a chill is in the air and the holidays are almost here. How did we grow as a Partnership in 2023? What did we accomplish? What can we prioritize in the year to come?
In March, I joined as Project Director for New England Feeding New England, a 10-year initiative put forth by the New England Food System Planners Partnership. In early June, we released the four-volume report, A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, at the NEASDA Conference that took place this year in New Hampshire. We distributed the report far and wide, including to local, regional and national media. An important step in building momentum and acceptance of the report and its findings occurred in July when all six state Agricultural Commissioners signed a Letter of Support in working toward the 30% by 2030 goal - signaling their interest in helping to do what it would actually take for each of the six states in New England to provide 30% of their food from regional farms and fisheries by 2030.
We continue to build momentum in sharing our report and new State Briefs across a diverse set of audiences. Recently, the Partnership held its Annual Retreat and were joined by our six agricultural department representatives to discuss statewide initiatives, coordinate around new supply chain infrastructure funding coming to the region, to identify the steps needed to create 'local' and 'regional' food definitions, and to explore our role as a regional Partnership. Some of the ways we are pursuing these objectives are by participating in the Community Advisory Council at the Northeast Regional Food Business Center, serving as a Network Coordinator for the New England Food Hub & Processors Network and supporting the engagement of community members in regional food system change through the ASPIRES Project. The Local Food Counts project remains a key focus through Q1 of 2024 and will provide the needed baseline for then measuring changes in local/regional food consumption in 2030.
We have a lot to be thankful for and want to recognize the feedback from you all this past year. It has been informative and motivating - it's helped us to prioritize and position our Partnership for another successful year.
I wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy holiday season.
Leah
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State briefs were compiled by editor/designer, Scott Sawyer, and a collaborative effort between each of our partner organizations and their State Agricultural Agency counterpart.
Click on each State Brief to learn more
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For the first time, we held a work group session with the attendees at the VT F2P Gathering to explore this specific question - What can you, your organization, or the VT F2P network group(s) contribute to the identified action areas and how might we achieve them?
We asked participants to consider the key takeaways from the NEFNE research and how these relate both to the VT Farm to Plate Strategic Plan and Next Steps outlined in the Vermont State Brief.
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Dr. Josh Stoll, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine.
Josh was part of the Food Production Team that focused on the fisheries and seafood component of Volume 2 of our report.
This presentation was the first time we held a discussion about fisheries and seafood in the region and how important they are in our ability to be self-reliant in the years to come.
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Dr. Nic Rockler, of Kavet, Rockler and Associates, is an economic consultant specializing in regional impact measurement, modeling and assessment.
Nic was part of the Economic Impact Team that focused the industries we have for economic development for Volume 3 of our report.
Nic shared what the team learned and held a discussion of the implications for the future of New Hampshire's food system.
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Thank you to all of the participants for their insight, ideas and energy! | |
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2023 Massachusetts Food System Forum
Join us for a discussion of the NEFNE research and next steps for Massachusetts in move toward the 30% by 2030 goal. Help to strengthen the statewide food community by discussing important food topics and developing skills so we can all advocate for a stronger, more equitable Massachusetts food system.
Friday, December 8th, 2023 (9:30-11am) at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA
| *This event is a full day from 8am-4pm, with workshops in the morning. It is intended for farmers, advocates, legislators, and community members to connect about the past, present, and future of the Massachusetts food system. | | |
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If we ate in a healthier, more resilient way, could more of our food be supplied by regional seafood production?
This figure offers a conceptual model of our approach that we used to link regional production and regional consumption. We started with state and federal landings data for each state for the study period. To determine edible product, we then removed species that are primary used as bait and calculated yield for each species to determine edible product. Data from the USDA Economic Research Service was used to determine per capita fish and shellfish consumption.
The data shows that there are leverage points we could point to in working toward the 30 by 2030 goal, one of which is to induce greater ecological production of species New Englanders like to eat and regional food preference plays a role in determining how much New England-landed seafood is retained in the region.
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Factors influencing the volume available at each step are listed along the top of the diagram. Specific interventions that could be taken to increase these volumes are listed in gray at the bottom. Of note, seafood trade is not addressed here.
(New England Feeding New England: A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, Volume 2 Supplement: Increasing Regional Self-Reliance Through Seafood, page 5, Figure 1: Conceptualization of Connection Between Regional Production and Regional Consumption)
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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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Healthy Communities of the Capital Area (HCCA) is home to Maine Farm & Sea to School Network (MFSN), Maine Farm to Institution (MEFTI), and has a role in leading and supporting many other local food networks and outcome projects. Between now and mid-December, they are asking for participation as they embark on a strategic planning process for both of the networks to identify priorities for the next 3-5 years. | |
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.
We are in the process of sending out the second round of the survey to college/universities, hospitals, food bank/pantries and other entities - to establish a baseline estimate of local food consumption in each of the New England states.
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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Thank you to the growing list of regional and state-level organizations who have invited us to speak about our Partnership and the report! | |
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Upcoming Events
Massachusetts Food System Forum, December 8th, 2023
RI Interagency Food Nutrition & Policy Advisory Council, December 12th, 2023
2023 NH Agricultural Policy Forum, December 13th, 2023
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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. | | | | |
