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IN THIS ISSUE
- Program Updates
- Regional News
- Upcoming events
- Spotlight: Food Works Group
- Resources + Opportunities
- Job Opportunities
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Livestock Working Group Met
In-Person to Discuss the Value Added Meat Processing and Cold Storage Study
The Local Meat Processing Support Program gathered seven members of the Livestock Working Group with three consultants from Food Works Group to discuss the results of the study so far, and its future direction.
Livestock Working Group members confirmed that the study aligns with a need for greater VAP capacity in the region. Farmers were very interested in the potential for expanded bone broth and animal fats production, as bones and fats are currently underutilized.
Read the meeting report.
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Berkshire Ag Ventures Gathered Fiber and Hide Meeting
In March, Berkshire Agricultural Ventures brought together players in the regional fibershed to discuss problems and opportunities in the fiber and hide value chain.
The value chain is vulnerable due to lack of value chain infrastructure and coordination. In a region that has a high number of small ruminant farmers for which fiber and hide production is an important revenue stream, this leaves the broader regional livestock production system at risk.
The conversation explored how to look more holistically at Regional Livestock Production Value Chains and opportunities for technical and development support work that BAV and others could engage in.
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Food Works Group Completed Site Visits
Food Works Group, the consulting group carrying out the Value Added Meat Processing and Cold Storage study visited the Berkshire-Taconic region in March to complete surveys and interviews of buyers, livestock farmers, and processors.
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USDA Announces Local MCap Award Recipients
The USDA awarded 42 grants totalling $9,501,281 to projects that modernize, increase, diversify, and decentralize meat and poultry processing capacity. See the list of awardees.
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Butcher Shop Sourcing Local Meat Opens in Hudson, NY
The Meat Hook, a whole animal butcher shop that sources local pasture-raised meats, is opening a shop in Hudson, NY. Read more.
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Upcoming Events (virtual unless otherwise noted) | |
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Spotlight: Food Works Group
In this section, we feature a producer, processor, project or collaboration that we think others could benefit to learn more about.
Do you or someone you know have a creative or collaborative approach that we could spotlight?
Contact Ren Constas at Ren@berkshiregrown.org.
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Food Works Group is the food business strategy consulting group carrying out the Value Added Meat Processing and Cold Storage study headed by BAV examining the question: What is the need for increased USDA inspected Value Added Production for meat products in the Berkshire-Taconic region, and what is the most effective way to meet that need?
They work with diverse clients including nonprofit, for-profit and government entities, to create opportunities for food businesses and the communities they serve. Ren Constas spoke with founder Wendy Stuart to learn more about FWG's story and what they do. (Wendy also took all the photos in this newsletter! Thank you Wendy!)
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Wendy Stuart, Founding Partner | |
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How did you come to this work?
I came to this work with a background in Economics and an eye for infrastructure. In the early 2000's I stepped away from my career in economics to attend the Culinary Institute of America. I didn't know this side-exploration would lead to a new chapter of my career. I fell in love with the larger food system. After completing a Masters in Sustainable Food Systems in Italy, I returned to the US at a time when the regional food system was finally starting to get some traction. Job possibilities in food system work were slim, so I decided to start a business.
How does your background shape your work?
I believe that if you build a system with all of the infrastructure it needs, you're setting it up for success. We want to look at solving problems by addressing root issues. We support Food Banks and other entities doing important stopgap measures to make sure people are fed -- but we always have an eye for the systemic solutions addressing core issues, like food security initiatives that consider other issues that are intertwined, like housing, transport, and medical needs.
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"The success in regional food systems comes down to strong leadership and customized solutions. What is working in the Berkshires likely wouldn't work elsewhere. The trust in the leadership, in the community, and the buy-in has a value that is not quantifiable.
These pieces take time, capacity and love. "
Wendy Stuart, Founding Partner of Food Works Group
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Why is it important for this work to be data driven?
To be able to quantify and evaluate, you need a data driven approach. With any new idea, we need metrics to be able to set goals and evaluate what's been done. As the food system becomes more sophisticated, it's more and more important to have data so we can examine financial sustainability, which is core to a sustainable regional food system.
We are working on a project with a collective of Food Hubs to standardize data, so food hubs can communicate between each other. It can be as simple as the name of a product: if one food hub lists rainbow carrots as "rainbow carrots" and the other lists them as "carrots, rainbow", those hubs can't compare data.
Larger profit-driven food businesses do this naturally. But smaller local and regional farmers just trying to grow food and get their product to market need backbone entities to collect info and make it useful for their beneficiaries.
We need data so we can see what's working, make improvements, and make a case for those projects to keep doing what they're doing.
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Berkshire Agricultural Ventures acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded land of the Mohican, Munsee Lenape, and other Indigenous peoples. We recognize that the United States was built on stolen land and that all systems in this country are built on the stolen labor of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other people of color.
You can read BAV's full statement on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging here.
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