Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Website

  • NESAWG trained twenty-four agriculture economic development practitioners from 12 Northeast. Strengthening ag development as an economic development activity is critical in our highly urbanized region.
  • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) originated in this country in the Northeast, and there are more CSA farms in our region than in any other. NESAWG led a four-year project to strengthen the CSA movement in the Northeast and nationally. We held three CSA conferences, sponsored two research projects, designed a national CSA farm census, and created a CSA website (www.csacenter.org) and the Robyn Van En Center for CSA Resources in PA.

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    Natural resource conservation and enhancement:

    • Several Farm Bill conservation programs are important for the Northeast –for example, the new Conservation Security Program and the Farmland Protection Program. Many Northeast states can benefit from the federal matching program to purchase development rights on important farmland. NESAWG is working with advocates to make sure that qualifying states benefit from a new “regional equity” provision that guarantees conservation payments to traditionally under-served states.

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    Community food systems and food security:

    • NESAWG provided mini-grants to eight communities to hold community food system meetings. The goal of the meetings was to draw representatives from various sectors, including farmers, nutrition professionals, economic development practitioners, and others, and to set the groundwork for ongoing collaboration around identified needs.
    • NESAWG members were instrumental in the passage of the federal Community Food Projects program in the Farm Bill. NESAWG sponsored several trainings for organizations to develop community food projects.

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    Food ‘citizenship’:

    • NESAWG publications educate the public about our food system and encourage active engagement. Northeast Farms to Food: Understanding Our Region’s Food System is NESAWG’s recent publication that offers a wealth of information about the Northeast food and agriculture system, from production through consumption.
    • A “buy local” message with NESAWG information appeared on 1 million Cabot Creamery butter boxes — listing reasons to support local agriculture. NESAWG-created radio spots about food security and to support buy local campaigns help local groups broadcast their messages.
    • Outreach tools such as the 350-subscriber list serve, website, directory, and annual events bring citizens as well as food and agriculture professionals into dialogue and sharing.
    • NESAWG sponsors opportunities for citizen engagement such as the Citizens Panel on the Future of the New England Food System, with University of New Hampshire. NESAWG disseminates information on topics such as agricultural biotechnology, the national organic certification program, food safety, dairy policy, farmland preservation, and nutrition issues.

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