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UPCOMING FINE WEBINAR
Farm to Facility: Increasing Local Food in New England Prisons
January 14, 2026, 12pm - 1pm ET
While schools and hospitals have made progress in sourcing local food, meals in prisons and jails remain among the least healthy and least connected to regional food systems. Yet Departments of Correction are among the largest food purchasers in many states, with potential to generate stable, values-based markets for regional producers. Join presenters Brittany Florio of Farm to Institution New England and Leslie Soble of Impact Justice, to explore findings from the two-year USDA-funded project Nourishing Justice: A Feasibility Study for Farm to Corrections Work in New England. Presenters interviewed staff from all six New England Departments of Correction, as well as food hubs and producers. This webinar, hosted by Daniel Rosen of the Coalition for Carceral Nutrition, will share key findings and recommendations for policy, purchasing, matchmaking, and career pathways to help bring nourishing, regionally grown food into correctional facilities.
Voices of the Network: 2025-2026 Farm to Institution Webinar Series
FINE brings you stories of resilience, belonging, partnership, and innovation across our region and along the farm to institution value chain. Guest speakers present on topics including food waste in schools, farming for inclusion and healing, sustainable procurement, food justice in carceral settings, and more. This free, virtual series celebrates the bounty of farm to institution work in New England and strengthens our collective efforts toward a just and resilient food system. Register for each to get the recordings. đź“Ł Help us spread the word to your networks with images and sample language from our Outreach & Promotion Toolkit. Coming up next:
The Local Food Count is live across New England! Institutions, restaurants, grocers, distributors, food hubs and other food and beverage businesses or organizations are invited to participate. This is a project of New England Feeding New England, an initiative of the New England Food System Planners Partnership to strengthen the region’s food system and increase local food sourcing. Data collection is open now through April 30, 2026; the information gathered will help identify current purchasing patterns and opportunities to expand local procurement and identify opportunities to increase local sourcing—supporting a more resilient, sustainable, and connected food system.
What You Can Do:
Get counted. Institutions, restaurants, grocers, distributors, food hubs and other food and beverage businesses or organizations— complete the survey today at the link below.
Spread the word. Share about the Local Food Count with food and beverage businesses or organizations in your community and networks and make sure they get counted.
Interested in coaching Farm to School teams through state Institutes? Shelburne Farms’ Institute for Sustainable Schools is offering a national coach onboarding program blending asynchronous learning with live, facilitated sessions this spring and summer. Two cohort options are available. Registration closes January 7, 2026.
Findings are now available from the sixth national Food Hub Survey, a longitudinal research project led by Michigan State University's Center for Regional Food Systems. Drawing on data from 100 responses across the country, the authors offer the following recommendations to strengthen food hub infrastructure and resilience:
Leverage public and private investments to build national food hub infrastructure and resilient food supply chains for communities.
Offer training and investment to support hubs with business development and viable market expansion.
Strengthen food hub business, marketing, technical and advocacy capacity through an existing and expanded food hub network support structure.
Congratulations to the 11 New England colleges recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the Top 50 Green Colleges for 2026! Schools were evaluated on percent of local and sustainable food purchases, use of lower carbon transportation options, student and staff engagement in advancing sustainability on campus, waste diversion, green buildings, environment-focused studies, greenhouse gas emission mitigation plans, use of renewable energy sources, and the presence of a sustainability officer on staff.
# 1 College of the Atlantic 🥕 # 5 Bennington College
$1.2M for Local Food in MA Schools & Early Care Programs
The Healey–Driscoll Administration announced $1.2 million in MA FRESH grants to support 24 school districts and 10 early education and care programs in Massachusetts, helping them source local food and expand food system education through activities such as school gardens, hydroponic growing systems, culinary classes, and farm field trips. The grants support professional development for educators and nutrition staff and advance access to healthy, locally sourced meals, part of the administration’s broader anti-hunger efforts.
UConn Extension Vegetable and Small Fruit Growers’ Conference 2025 | | 8:45 am - 3:15 pm | Storrs, CT | UConn Extension's Vegetable and Small Fruit Growers' Conference features learning sessions, networking opportunities, research poster presentations, and a trade show. Bring your questions, challenges, and success stories to share with our network of Extension Educators, experienced and beginning farmers, and agricultural service providers. New This Year: Farmer focus group discussions during lunch and afternoon breakout sessions to foster opportunities to share ideas, ask questions, and connect directly with peers and experts in the field.
Rhode Island Food System Summit | | Kingston, RI | This convening on the URI campus is more than a meeting; it is a powerful act of coming together to “meet the moment” in building a resilient, equitable food future.
Farm to Facility: Increasing Local Food in New England Prisons | | 12 pm ET | Virtual | While schools and hospitals have made progress in sourcing local food, meals in prisons and jails remain among the least healthy and least connected to regional food systems. Yet Departments of Correction are among the largest food purchasers in many states, with potential to generate stable, values-based markets for regional producers. Join us to explore findings from "Nourishing Justice: A Feasibility Study for Farm to Corrections Work in New England," a two-year USDA-funded project led by FINE, Impact Justice, and partners. Presenters Britt Florio (FINE) and Leslie Soble (Impact Justice) interviewed staff from all six New England Departments of Correction, as well as food hubs and producers. This webinar will share key findings and recommendations for policy, purchasing, matchmaking, and career pathways to help bring nourishing, regionally grown food into correctional facilities. Hosted by Farm to Institution New England.
Maine Institutional Buyers, Local Producers & Distributors Matchmaking Event | | 10 am - 1 pm ET | Augusta, Maine | Get inspired by Maine farmers, food producers, aggregators, and buyers on how they have incorporated farm to institution (FTI) work into their business. Spend most of the session making connections to buy and sell more local food.
Preschool, K-12, and College Procurement Gathering 2026 | | 2 pm - 5 pm ET | Farm Fresh Rhode Island, 10 Sims Avenue, Providence, RI, USA | This annual event connects local food producers with buyers for Rhode Island's preK-12 schools and colleges.
The Local Food Trade Show | | Wayland, MA | This huge trade show from the Boston Local Food Program connects New England food producers with wholesale buyers in the beautiful Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, MA.
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