Don’t miss these items in local food and agriculture news from around our region:
Founded in 2011, the RI Food Policy Council (RIFPC) is a statewide collaboration of stakeholders who create partnerships, develop policies, and advocate for improvements to the local food system. The RIFPC has accomplished a lot in the past six years: we built a statewide network of food systems stakeholders, acted as a core partner in the development of the first Rhode Island Food Strategy, partnered with the DEM to administer the Local Agriculture and Seafood Act Grants Program, and more.
In the past year, the Council entered a period of change and growth. With the launch of the RI Food Strategy a little over a year ago, RIFPC committed to help implement that strategy and to measure and communicate about its progress. We have initiated two new projects, one devoted to increasing capital access for food enterprise, and the other dedicated to increasing the purchase of local food products by institutions (e.g., schools, colleges, hospitals). We have also redoubled our efforts to fight for progressive food policy, perform useful research, and communicate with diverse stakeholder groups.
The coming year will be an active one for the Council, and we seek innovative and energetic individuals to join and help chart the course. We need individuals with expertise in policy, research, communications, food justice, food access and equity. We want representation from all links in the marketing chain, from producers and harvesters, to processors and restaurants, to institutions and advocates for food waste reduction and food access.
We acknowledge that the makeup of the Council does not currently match the diversity present in Rhode Island. We seek to improve on this thoughtfully and intentionally. We recognize the value of diversity in backgrounds and experience, and the importance of raising up voices that have historically been marginalized, as we all work together to a stronger and more resilient Rhode Island food system.
NORTHEAST SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP (NESAWG)
Calling all food systems thinkers, doers, leaders, and advocates! Registration is now open for the 25th annual “It Takes a Region” conference, hosted by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group in Philadelphia this October 24-26.
Come be part of the 500+ person community of food systems leaders, practitioners and advocates working to change the food system. NESAWG’s gathering is an opportunity for building skills, analysis, and networks that move our work out of silos and inboxes and into living connection and tangible food systems change. Whether you’re a farmer or researcher, a young person or an elder, a nonprofit or a small business, this conference has something for you. Scholarships are available for underrepresented groups and those with financial need.
This year’s theme is Cultivating a Transformative Food System. Together with some of our region’s most compelling leaders we’ll be discussing what it means for our food system to be in right relationship to people, place, and planet. It’s a conversation you won’t hear anywhere else in the food movement, and you won’t want to miss it.
LAND FOR GOOD
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