Community-Driven Value Chains
Hawaii Food for All
A vibrant community foods network in Hawai‘i upholds traditional culture, farming, fishing, and land stewardship practices against great odds, by working creatively to build long-term collaborations. A food bank plays a potent role by working with low-income farmers to direct fresh foods to low-income constituents and add value to traditional crops. A retired state health official fosters grassroots networks. A health center runs a farm and engages its clients in life-changing connections. These groups weave a statewide network that highlights the economic importance of building community-based food systems.
Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource Center; Kaiulani Odom, Kokua Kalihi Valley Health Center; Tina Tamai, Hawaii Good Food Network; Kristin Albrecht, The Food Basket
Small-batch food manufacturing as a catalyst for equity and access in the regional food economy
Building an inclusive, equitable regional food economy requires forging a network of collaborations up and down the supply chain able to address the complex challenges of seasonality, climate change, increasingly restrictive regulatory requirements, access to capital, and changing consumer demand. In this session, CommonWealth Kitchen, which operates Greater Boston’s nonprofit food business incubator and food manufacturing social enterprise, will provide an in-depth look at how it leverages its small-batch food manufacturing infrastructure and technical expertise to catalyze pivotal collaborations all long the supply chain. Specific focus areas will include: how CWK’s on-demand processing is diverting farm surplus and creating new market opportunities and revenue streams for regional farms and how CWK is forging partnerships with retailers, distributors, and anchor institutions looking for reliable sources of regionally-produced food throughout the year.
Jen Faigel, CommonWealth Kitchen; Amber Hansen, Healthcare Without Harm
A Community Based Approach to Developing Partnership with a Food Hub
Learn how to create nontraditional partnerships to achieve your food hub goals, whether these goals are economic development, farmland preservation, urban revitalization, rural development, heritage preservation, food security or developing regional food systems. In this session you will learn how two economically distressed counties in Western NC developed partnerships with a variety of local organizations to stymie the loss of farmers and farmland, and improve the economic situation faced by small farmers. Our unique approach to partnering with multiple organizations to develop a local food hub has proven to be very successful. This project is an example of collaboration involving multiple organizations including the local Sheriff’s department, County government, local school system, youth programs, local food bank, community gardens, land conservancies, community foundations, and North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Robin Smith, TRACTOR; Tres Manger, Yancey County Coop Extension; Adam McCurry, Farmer; Jamie McMahan, Yancey County Economic Development; Jeffrey Vance, Mitchell County Coop Extension
From Bullets to Banks: Preventing Colonizing Behaviors in the Food System
This workshop examines the history of colonization in the creation of the food system we have today including who owns land, water and resources as well as how agricultural workers are treated. By recognizing the history of colonization in the food system, we can examine ways that we unintentionally replicate colonizing methods in the food system work today. The panel consists of people in New Mexico whose families suffered under different systems of colonization over generations and illuminates subtle ways that nonprofits, funders, policy advocates and others repeat the patterns in modern times. The examples are drawn from New Mexico, which is apropos since the conference is located in New Mexico, but the lessons can apply everywhere. We will put forth an alternative vision in which self-determination is upheld over colonization and equity over racism.
Sayrah Namaste and Patrick Jaramillo, American Friends Service Committee and Beata Tsosie-Peña, Tewa Women United
Lightning Talks: Value Chains for Community Transformation
A lightning round of brief, highly visual presentations featuring 7 community-based organizations that are building equity, community wealth, connection and capacity through value chain approaches. This inspiring session will highlight and emphasize the creative strategies and partnerships forged by these organizations to strengthen and transform their communities through food.
Audrey Huntington, The Common Market; Annette Hiatt, Land Loss Prevention Project; Dalila Boclin, Community Foodworks; Elisa Munoz-Miller, New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee; Kaiulani Odom, Kokua Kalihi Valley Health Center; Nick Hernandez, Thunder Valley CDC; Raul Lozano, Valley Verde; Kelly Larsen and Rosario Maldonado, Windy City Harvest