Foodshare

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

New report on food policy issues in New England


Through the work of many local, state and regional food system advocates, New England is creating a more sustainable and resilient food system. Together, we can further advance this work by promoting innovative and supportive public policies.

Toward that end, American Farmland Trust, Conservation Law Foundation and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group have recently released a new report, New England Food Policy: Building a Sustainable Food System. Please visit www.newenglandfoodpolicy.org to download the report.

This report is intended to guide citizens, organizations, coalitions, agencies and policymakers in identifying supportive policies and areas where new or changed policies may be needed to help New England expand its food production, strengthen its agricultural economy, and enhance multi-state cooperation. The report is also intended to complement the New England Food Vision, a project of Food Solutions New England, which will be released later this spring. The New England Food Vision sketches a future, through a set of assumptions and calculations, in which the region could produce at least 50% of its food needs by 2060. New England Food Policy offers suggestions for the types of state and federal policies that will be important in moving the region in the direction of the Vision.     

A product of eighteen months of research and interviews, New England Food Policy contains policy research, analysis and suggestions in five key food system areas:

·         Land

·         Food Production


·         Markets

·         Waste Streams

In addition, the report reviews regional approaches for states to cooperate toward shared food system objectives. 

An important purpose of this report is to stimulate and support policy actions by groups and agencies at all levels in each New England state, and as a six-state region.

Watch for more information in the coming weeks, including notice of the first webinar. 

In the meantime, please take some time to read our report, which can be found at www.newenglandfoodpolicy.org.

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