Join Us for a NEFNE '30% by 2030' Report Webinar! | |
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Join us for a NEFNE '30% by 2030' Webinar on September 26th, 1-2:30pm!
Meeting ID: 841 8521 7783
Passcode: 038938
We will review the report findings, hear from members of our research team, and break out into small groups to discuss possible next steps towards our regional goal of 30% by 2030.
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The New England Food System Planners Partnership (NEFSPP) offered a Letter of Support this week addressed to each of the six state Agricultural Commissioners to include with their USDA-RFSI program work plans. The aim of the program is to "build resilience in the middle-of-the-supply-chain and strengthen local and regional food systems by creating new revenue streams for their state's producers."
As our NEFNE research findings indicate, there are significant risks to long-term food production - but working together will improve our chances of reducing these risks and achieving our shared 30% by 2030 goal. It is clear to us that a multi-state approach will be critical to making improvements in the availability of supply chain infrastructure to a wide range of producers. Offering small and medium-scale food businesses customized technical assistance, building new distribution and aggregation facilities, examining regional technology systems for optimized trucking routes, and upgrading our existing equipment to be more sustainable, efficient and appropriately scaled, will help us achieve this.
The timing of these USDA-RFSI funds coming to our six-state region could not be better!
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We recently expanded our partnership to include representatives from all six state Agricultural agencies:
Cyrena Thibodeau, AG Marketing and Inspection Representative, Connecticut Department of Agriculture
Bonita Oehlke, Market Development & Food Systems Planning, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
Abbey Willard, Agricultural Development Division Director, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
Josh Marshall, Director of Agricultural Development, New Hampshire Department of Agriculture
Julianne Stelmaszyk, Director of Food Strategy, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation
Michelle Webb, Director of Agricultural Resource Development, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Welcome!
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The figure below shows an estimate of our current food and beverage expenditures - but how much of that would need to be spent on regional food and beverage products in order to reach 30%? | |
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If all New Englanders, on average, spent about $1,760 of their annual food budget on regionally-produced food, we could achieve our 30% goal!
However, reaching 30% of total food expenditures by 2030 will require an adequate supply of regional food and beverage products to be carried by a suite of market channels.
(New England Feeding New England: A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, Volume 4: Understanding Market Channels and Food Expenditures, Figure 16)
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Local Food Counts Project Update
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 and Connecticut so far. The team is nearly done compiling a contact list of distributors and retailers and is very excited to have recently teamed up with Farm to Institution New England (FINE) given their vast network of contacts at campuses and hospitals in the six states and across the region.
Learn more here
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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NEFSPP partner, Maine Food Strategy, is gearing up to play a leadership role as part of a new cross-sector state policy coalition - the next step in building upon an existing Maine Food Policy Work Group. "This will enable us to select priority bills and support new legislation in Maine, and we expect the New England Feeding New England report to serve as part of the foundation for the group's priority setting," says Tanya Swain, Project Director. | | |
Thank you to our growing list of Regional and State-level Audiences | |
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Upcoming Events
NH Food Alliance Network Cafe Series, September 2023
FocusMaine Food Series Forum, September 2023
Massachusetts Food System Caucus, October 2023
University of Vermont Food System Summit, November 10, 2023
Vermont Farm to Plate Network Gathering, November 16 & 17, 2023
Massachusetts Food System Forum, December 8th, 2023
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There are a lot of exciting food systems efforts in play across the region - from news coverage 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. | | | | |
