✂️ With so much content, this email may get clipped! Look for a link at the bottom for the full edition.✂️
Get Ready for the Regional Local Food Count!
This second Local Food Count is part of New England Feeding New England, a regional initiative led by the New England Food System Planners Partnership. It uses a standardized and proven methodology to measure how much food is grown, raised, caught, and produced within New England that is purchased and sold in one calendar year. This count is the mechanism for tracking progress toward the region’s bold goal: 30% of New England’s food supplied by New England farms, fishers, and food producers by 2030. If you represent an institution, grocer, restaurant, distributor, or other entity that purchases local food in New England, then head over to their website to learn how you can get ready to participate.
Join institutional food leaders, producers, distributors, and advocates from across Maine to share resources and best practices in local and regional procurement, explore models for institutional kitchens, cafeterias, and meal programs, connect food service, educators, and policy makers for collective impact, and discuss food policy shaping farm to institution in Maine. Hosted by the Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network and the Maine Farm to School Network.
The RISE Program from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice brings together the next generation of highly-motivated, mission-driven, early career social sector and community leaders who are passionate about social change and advancing equity. This virtual program runs January - May 2026. Apply by November 7, 2026.
Massachusetts Farm to School seeks proposals for their Farm and Sea to School Conference on March 18, 2026 at Smith College in Northampton, MA. The conference will feature workshops, experiential activity stations, panel discussions, facilitated networking, as well as regional field trips on the day prior to the conference. Conference proposals should relate to the theme, "Building Connections, Resilience and Joy" and are due November 14, 2025.
Food as Medicine Programs: A Growing Opportunity for Farms and Food Hubs
This new guide from Local Food Marketplace takes an in-depth look at how Food as Medicine programs, which give access to healthy food to prevent or cure disease, are growing across the country, and how they present a real opportunity for farms and food hubs.
Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network Summit | | Colby College, Waterville, Maine | This one-day gathering brings together leaders, practitioners, and advocates from across the local food Maine system—farmers, fishers, food producers, institutional buyers, educators, policymakers, and nonprofit organizations—all working to strengthen the Farm-to-Institution movement in Maine.
Vermont Farm to Plate Gathering |
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| East Burke, VT | Vermont Farm to Plate is excited to invite network members and non‑members who work across Vermont’s food system to the 15th annual gathering, under the theme "Keep Calm, and Collaborate On: Working Better Together as a Region in Uncertain Times"
Massachusetts Food System Forum 2025 | | Worcester, MA | A gathering of farmers, fishermen, food system advocates, conservation, public health and housing advocates, people with lived experience with food insecurity, legislators, legislative staff, and state agency staff.
National Farm to Cafeteria Conference |
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| Albuquerque, NM | The 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, hosted by the National Farm to School Network, is the premier event for anyone passionate about bringing local food to institutional settings and driving positive change in the food system. Whether you’re a food service professional, farmer, educator, policymaker, entrepreneur, or student, this conference offers invaluable opportunities to network, learn, and share knowledge with others who are shaping the future of food access and sustainability.
NOFA/Mass Winter Conference - Healthy Soils in Action | | University of Massachusetts Amherst | The Massachusetts Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association hosts their annual Winter Conference around a theme inspired by the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan, which focuses on how we can effectively conserve, protect, restore, and properly manage our soil throughout the state to improve the vitality of our environments and the health and quality of life of our community members.
Massachusetts Farm & Sea to School Conference 2026 | | Northampton, MA | This 8th annual event brings together 300 farm to school advocates from diverse backgrounds such as food service, education, food distribution, farms, and advocacy, to advance a strong and vibrant local food system. Participants will learn new tools and develop new connections to expand food education and local food in school meals.
Farm to Institution New England is fiscally sponsored by Third Sector New England, Inc. (TSNE)
Farm to Institution New England (FINE), 89 South Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111
