New England Food System Planners Partnership
The IRSSC will be supporting The New England Food System Planners Partnership, which is comprised of about six statewide organizations. These include Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund/Vermont Farm to Plate, Maine Food Strategy, New Hampshire Food Alliance, Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, Connecticut Food System Alliance, and Rhode Island Food Policy Council. Each one leads development and implementation in their respective, statewide, food system strategies.
In 2019 this partnership launched a joint project, “New England Feeding New England: Cultivating A Resilient Food Supply”, a 10-year initiative to prepare the region for system shocks such as climate-related weather events and public health emergencies.
Between the fall of 2021 and winter of 2023, foundational research was conducted to explore the question: What would it take for 30% of the food consumed in New England to be regionally produced by 2030?
Because local food counts data does not yet exist in all six New England states (only Vermont has collected it), researchers created a model of regional self-reliance. The model is an estimate of the region’s production of food commodities compared to its consumption of them. It outlined two scenarios in which the six New England states could meet a goal of supplying 30% of their food from local sources by 2030.
It became clear from our research that having local food counts conducted in the other five New England states is essential to tracking progress towards our 30% goal by 2030.
We will be sure to provide ongoing updates on this project. We are stronger together!
Read more about it: https://nefoodsystemplanners.org/projects/local-food-counts-project/
Collage Photo Credits:
Farm: Green Meadow Farm
Tractor: Shelley Pauls on Unsplash
Cattle: Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash
Vegetables: Peter Wendt on Unsplash
