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It reached 50 degrees in February here in southern Maine. While the warmer weather was a welcome reprieve to what has been a frigid winter so far, it leaves me unsettled for the implications these large weather swings will have on our food supply as our climate continues to change. Will we be prepared and more self-reliant as a region?
There is certainly movement afoot. At the state level, our six-state Agricultural partners and affiliates are working to execute their state grant programs for the USDA's Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program. Those funds - equaling about $20 million in total across New England over a 4 year period - Massachusetts ($3.4m), Maine ($3.9m), New Hampshire ($2.6m), Rhode Island ($2.2m), Vermont ($4.5m), Connecticut ($2.7m) - will be deployed in each of the New England states (find the complete 50 state list here). The goal of the program is to "expand capacity and infrastructure for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling or distribution of targeted local and regional agricultural products."
In addition, Maine's Climate Council, housed at the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, has a commitment to ensure 30% of the food consumed in Maine is produced in Maine by 2030. New Hampshire is creating its first state food system Strategic Plan - a collaborative effort between community and state partners. Rhode Island Food Policy Council is working within climate and environment-related initiatives to address food related impact such as reducing wasted food and building more carbon-mitigation practices in agriculture. Farm to Plate's Beef-on-Dairy Project, a sire program that dairy farms can use to breed animals for the beef market, is entering its third phase - standardizing, scaling and re-engaging this supply chain in Vermont.
Allied organizations like the MA Food Policy Council are developing a strategic plan with Project Bread to end hunger by 2030. And finally, CT Department of Agriculture is partnering with CT Farm to School to update their procurement standards so that more local and regional foods can be provided by farmers and food producers.
It may still be cold out, but there are seeds beginning to sprout.
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, Rhode Island and Maine, in collaboration with Farm to Institution New England.
The first round of our Local Food Counts project wraps in March! We look forward to sharing the visualized data we have collected over the last 6 months on our website and corresponding partner data dashboards.
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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James Harrison, (former) Interim Executive Director at the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, one of our state organization partners, recently spoke at the Southeast New England Agriculture Conference & Trade Show. He talked about what the region can do to create a more resilient food system, including expanding farmland, making more local food available in grocery stores, and encouraging consumers to shift their food purchasing. | |
Ellen Kahler, Executive Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund which houses Vermont Farm to Plate, and Holly Fowler of Northbound Ventures and Team Lead for the Market Demand volume of the report, presented to NOFA VT Winter Conference to share the main research findings and engage in an interactive process to identify what it might take for NOFA-VT producers to significantly expand food production in Vermont. | |
Thank you to all of the attendees for their insight, ideas and energy! | |
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New England Feeding New England and Maine Conservation Voters
As part of the next Maine Conservation Voters Lunch & Learn webinar program, we'll discuss the NEFNE research and the role Maine can 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 the state in terms of added production and land use?
Maine Conservation Voters works to protect the environment, our democracy & our climate future by influencing public policy, holding politicians accountable and winning elections.
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MDAR is excited to share the release of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' first ever Environmental Justice Strategy for Massachusetts.
(MDAR’s Chapter begins on page 72)
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Vermont Farm to Plate has released its 2023 F2P Annual Impact Report. It features highlights of key projects including NEFNE, Food Security in Vermont: Roadmap to 2035, Developing the Local Food Retail Supply Chain and more.
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FSNE Policy Solutions Webinar: USDA Investment in Conservation and Climate Resilience
To achieve the 30 x 30 goal of New England Feeding New England and the 50 X 60 goal of A New England Food Vision equitably and justly, there are many measures that we need to take into consideration when building up and out our regional food system. Focusing on social and ecological factors, especially the people and the land who make up the food system, is integral.
Food Solutions New England (FSNE) recently hosted a policy solutions webinar focused on USDA Investments in Conservation and Climate Resilience in New England.
Organized in collaboration with the Northeast Healthy Soil Network, and moderated by Julie Davenson of the Soil Carbon Initiative, the panel focused on the USDA's significant investments in climate and conservation initiatives, guided by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Growing Climate Solutions Act, and a Just Transition framework that emphasizes shifting economic control to communities.
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The webinar aimed to encourage collaboration and innovative solutions for a more equitable and sustainable regional food system. Key topics addressed soil carbon measurement technologies and data infrastructure strategies for incentivizing conservation practices, a social-ecological systems framework for data sovereignty, and a focus on the democratic decision-making power held by locally-led Conservation Districts–which are being leveraged in New England to access Local Funding Pools that support conservation initiatives. Farmers shared an on-the-ground perspective, emphasizing the importance of supporting small and mid-sized farms and advocating for a paradigm shift in the USDA's approach to agriculture that prioritizes the needs of land stewards.
The webinar closed with calls-to-action to participate in local conservation districts and attend a regional listening session designed to inform regional research priorities and initiatives.
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Our Partnership is actively talking about how to align and work together across our states to most effectively distribute middle-of-the-supply-chain funding. | |
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USDA-AMS is working across states to design and build resilience in the middle-of-the-supply-chain and strengthen regional and local food systems through the creation of new revenue streams in the areas of aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of local agricultural products. Each State Department of Agriculture is managing a different amount of funds, timelines and corresponding criteria but all will offer funds via two grant programs: Infrastructure and Equipment.
The following grant applications are open now:
- New Hampshire
- Infrastructure Grant - apply by March 29, 2024
- Equipment Grant - will post in late 2024
- Massachusetts
- Infrastructure Grant - apply by March 29, 2024
- Simplified Equipment Grants - apply by March 29, 2024
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Connecticut
- Infrastructure Grant - apply by April 10, 2024
- Equipment Grant - will post in February 2025
Maine's Infrastructure grant application will tentatively post in March 2024; equipment-only will post in October 2024. Vermont will open Infrastructure grants this Spring and equipment-only grants mid-late summer 2024. Rhode Island's Infrastructure and special equipment use grant application period closed on January 21, 2024.
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Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP)
The USDA-AMS works with states to offer funds to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, which are defined as "fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).
SCBGP applications are now open for five states:
Vermont's pre-applications were due January 14, 2024; those invited to fully apply will receive notification by end of February.
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Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP)
Another USDA-AMS program, RFSP supports partnerships that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local or regional food systems. Its focus is to strengthen the viability and resilience of regional food economies through collaboration and coordination.
The next RFSP grant application period opens in March 2024 with deadline to submit in early May.
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If regional food production was substantially increased by 2030, what market channels offer the best opportunities for sourcing local and regional food products? As a practical matter, a relatively few companies dominate almost all aspects of global food production, processing, manufacturing, distribution, and retailing. It will be challenging to meet goals of 30% by 2030 - or 50% by 2060 - without finding ways to get more local and regional products into grocery stores and restaurants. | |
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Our access to food is heavily concentrated into two major market channels: grocery stores and supercenters for food eaten at home and fast food and restaurants for food eaten away from home. While substantial progress has been made supporting local and regional food via direct sales (e.g., farmers markets), co-ops, institutional sales (e.g., farm to college), and independent grocery stores, the majority of retail food sales are made through these other channels.
Within New England these top 4 chains - Ahold Delhaize (Stop and Shop, Hannaford), Albertsons (Shaw's and Star Market), and Walmart - have at least 699 stores but the most prolific type of grocery chain in New England (and America) are Dollar Tree/Family Dollar and Dollar General which operate 914 stores in this region alone.
Independent stores and co-ops are more likely to stock local and regional food products. So, how do we get more local and regionally produced food into these market channels? We can see the impact retail engagement can have through the Grocers Project at VT's Farm to Plate. Since 2015, Annie Harlow has led workshops, business coaching and other technical assistance for farmers, grocers, food manufacturers, distributors and others in Vermont - and across the region - to increase awareness and purchasing of local and regional foods. Continued exchange occurs through her monthly newsletter, Small Bites. This is a model we can look to in exploring how we can engage with this sector in the other New England states.
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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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New England Food Hub and Processors Network - Seeking New Members
The New England Food Hub & Processors Network aims to build a New England food system where local products can be harvested, packed, processed, ordered, transported, and delivered in service of New England’s hospitals, K-12 schools, restaurants, universities, grocers, and consumers. The food hubs and processors in this network are values-aligned, meaning they prioritize supporting local producers who grow, raise, and catch food in ways that are ecologically sustainable for our region. Together, they are working towards equitable access to fresh, nourishing food for all, prioritizing those who have historically been marginalized, and partnering with producers who provide their workers fair wages. If you’re interested in joining, please complete this survey.
For more information: [email protected]
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Regional Food System Jobs | |
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MDAR has announced a new Director of Security position related to the development of new food security policies and programming, the evaluation of existing programming along with cross-agency collaboration with MDAR's Food & Climate Equity work.
ME DACF is hiring a PFAS Fund Management Specialist to deploy $60 million PFAS Fund that will assist commercial farmers and other eligible individuals to respond to contamination of their soil and/or water by "forever chemicals."
RI Commerce is hiring a Regional Innovation Officer to manage and coordinate the Ocean Tech Hub (OTH) - an innovation initiative dedicated to rapid commercialization of undersea technology throughout RI and Southeastern MA. The OTH is one of 31 regions nationally that have been awarded Tech Hub Designation by the U.S.
Vermont's Food Connects has a number of positions open including: Food Hub Procurement Coordinator, Grants & Fundraising Manager and more.
Farm to Plate has a number of job listings that can be found here.
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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. | | | | |
