The story of a strawberry from aquaponic greenhouse to plate, as demonstrated
by Food Service Partners meal processing facility in California (My Cultiver, Sarah Wally)

Working together to improve the food system

Early this year, a group of 16 institutions and nonprofit organizations met to launch the New England Anchors in Resilient Communities project. The participants represent school districts, colleges and universities, and health care facilities from across Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The goal of the project is to increase access to local and sustainably produced foods while simultaneously creating food systems jobs with livable wages.

The project builds off the work of New England's colleagues in California who have undergone a two-year process which has resulted in the development of a new meal processing facility. The facility operated by Food Service Partners provides patient meals for a large hospital system and is gearing up to provide meals to other institutions in the San Francisco Bay area. The facility is working to source 100 percent local and sustainable foods by 2025. Additionally, they are hiring from within the East Bay community and paying at least $15 an hour.

In New England, participants are conducting research on the state of the New England food system with the objective of identifying a joint investment. They are exploring opportunities such as value-added produce and seafood. Purchasing and investing in products like these will move them toward their collective goal of a sustainable, regional food system.