New England Feeding New England Newsletter
Cultivating a Reliable Food Supply
A project of the New England State Food System Planners Partnership
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In 2019, the New England State Food System Planners Partnership launched the New England Feeding New England: Cultivating A Reliable Food Supply Project, a 10-year initiative to prepare the region for system shocks such as climate-related weather events and public health emergencies. Our aim is to increase regional food production for regional consumption. We can improve the reliability of our regional food system by strengthening supply chains and our goal is for 30% of food consumed in New England to be produced or harvested in New England by 2030.
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Research Update
After 9 months of focused effort, the 17 researchers working on foundational research to inform strategy development, investment, and policy recommendations that could lead to increasing consumption of food produced in the region to 30% by 2030, have completed their data collection and analysis and are starting to write up their findings. Over the last few months they have held 10 focus group sessions with key informants to inform the Production Milestone Team, including: beef and small livestock, annual crops, fruit, dairy, eggs and poultry, food manufacturing, aquaculture, production fisheries, fishery markets, and culturally relevant products for immigrant, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. An expert content review panel assessed our Resilient Eating Scenario assumptions and an Advisory Committee of regional food system experts tested our thinking over the course of 3 meetings. We are still on track to release our report sometime this coming Fall. Stay tuned!
Meeting with Ag Commissioners
On June 29, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts hosted a 2-hour meeting with his Commissioner counterparts in the other 5 New England states to receive a ‘sneak peek’ on what the data and analysis are pointing to regarding what it would take to achieve a goal of 30% New England regional food consumption from New England regional food production by 2030. Our three research Team Leads (Brian Donahue, Chris Peters, and Holly Fowler) provided high level findings from their teams’ research and answered questions from the Commissioners. The Commissioners then provided important insights and ground truthing and their feedback has been valuable as we begin writing the final report. We look forward to meeting with this group again in the Fall to share the final results from the Report.
Food Systems Resilience Focus Group
Planners from around New England joined a focus group to provide detailed feedback on the draft Food Systems Resilience Assessment Tool. The group discussed how to clarify the process a community would use to conduct this assessment, how to center equity in the process, and how to make the language inclusive and accessible to many groups. The team at Vermont Law School will continue to refine and build out the draft tool throughout the summer and fall.
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June Quarterly Update Meeting Summary
Over 60 people attended NEFNE’s quarterly update meeting on June 21. Ellen Kahler talked about the recent activities of the 17 person research team and their process of gathering feedback. A report with their findings on how the region could get to consuming 30% of their food from New England will be published this fall.
Emily Spiegel from the Center For Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School shared a draft version of the Food System Resilience Assessment tool. This resource is designed for municipal and regional planners, community organizations, and other food system advocates to plan and prepare for food system disruptions within a broader resilience framework. Those in attendance provided helpful feedback about what topics should be included, what format would be most useful, who might use the tool, and how it aligned with other planning processes that folks are already using in their communities.
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NH Food Alliance hosts a statewide gathering
After 2 years of virtual meetings, 141 members representing 93 organizations came together in May for the 2022 NH Food System Statewide Gathering at the Barn on the Pemi in Plymouth, New Hampshire. The resulting energy was palpable and the mood was joyful and celebratory! Interactive breakout sessions covered a variety of topics, from the Intersection of Health and Hunger and a State Level Policy Strategy Session to strategic communications that helps connect climate change and our diets. NH Food Hub Network members signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cement their relationships and ensure more local food can move around the state with ease. Read more about the signing and its impact here.
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New Vermont Farm to Plate Website Launched!
For over a year the team at VT Farm to Plate has been working with a new web developer to completely overhaul its website. All of the resources developed over the first 10 years of the Network’s implementation have been retained and re-organized to make them easier to access. The new site brings forward the components of the Vermont Agriculture & Food Systems Strategic Plan 2021-2030, while retaining access to the original 2011-2020 Vermont Farm to Plate Strategic Plan. Check out the new look and discover resources that may be of value to your work!
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Massachusetts publishes a report on expanding food system education
For a local food system to be sustainable, eaters need to understand the supply chain, value the benefits of local agriculture, and support local producers with their food dollars. A first step in building that public support is teaching school children about where food comes from, why nutrition matters, and what kinds of careers are available in the food system. The MA Food System Collaborative has published Food Literacy in Massachusetts: Local Successes, Statewide Opportunities, a report on local efforts to teach students about food, the challenges and lessons learned from these efforts, and recommended policy solutions that would help ensure all eaters grow up appreciating and supporting the local food system. The report is the first step in building a campaign to develop, pass, and implement those policies.
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Chili peppers, coffee, wine: how the climate crisis is causing food shortages
This installment of the Guardian’s project on how our food system isn’t ready for the climate crisis focuses on global food shortages of certain crops as a result of severe climate events. Heat, drought, floods and other events that are occurring with increasing frequency around the globe have impacted what food is on the shelves - and how much they cost - in regional grocery stores because of an over-reliance on specific foods from specific areas: a drought in Mexico caused a shortage of chili peppers; a drought in the midwest and extreme heat in India reduced wheat availability; and drought and frost destroyed coffee crops in Brazil. These disruptions in the supply chain will disproportionately impact low income farmers and low income consumers.
Addressing climate change is critical and there are many ways to mitigate the impacts on the food system. Increasing crop diversity, sharing information about weather events, and expanding conservation programs will help. It is also important to take steps to ensure that New England can source an increased amount of various foods from the region.
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