2024 NH Food System Statewide Gathering Program
Breakout Session Descriptions
Get ready to make some tough decisions: we're excited to bring you six cross-cutting and dynamic breakout session options for the 2024 NH Food System Statewide Gathering. Browse through the descriptions and featured speakers for each session below.
BREAKOUT SESSION ONE
Active Research Addressing Nutrition Security in New Hampshire
Nutrition security challenges are as unique as the communities facing them and require tailored solutions. Listen to a team of researchers from the University of New Hampshire whose work is intended to support and inform the work of food access advocates (like many of you!) across the state. This session will include a brief overview about each presenters’ food access-focused research program followed by small group discussions on the research implications for increased access to healthy food in communities throughout New Hampshire.
Featured in the session: Rawan AlSarraf, Doctoral Student, Agriculture, Nutrition & Food Systems, UNH, Sherman Bigornia, Assistant Professor, Agriculture, Nutrition & Food Systems, UNH, Noereem Z. Mena, Ph.D., RDN, Assistant Professor, Agriculture, Nutrition & Food Systems, UNH, moderated by Tiffany Brewster, NH Hunger Solutions
Resources from this session:
- Featured in Rawan's presentation on the Dao Research Lab
- Featured in Sherman's presentation on Bigornia Research Lab
- Featured in Noereem's presentation on Farm to Early Childhood Education
- Access the "Farm to Early Childhood in New England: Current Landscape and Opportunities" report here
- Watch a recorded webinar about the report "Farm to Early Childhood in New England: The Current Landscape and Collaborative Strategizing" here
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Access the "Farm to Early Childhood in New England: Visualizing the Ecosystem" resource here
- Learn more about the New England Farm to Early Childhood Project and the Community of Practice members here
Resources from this session:
- Read "Half of New Hampshire residents buy local farm food at least a few times a month, but engagement varies by county," by Jess Carson, Analena Bruce, and Isaac Leslie, here
Rethinking Our Messages and Models to Market Local Food
Consumer participation in farmers’ markets and CSAs has stagnated in New Hampshire and New England. Farmers in the region, who primarily advertise their products through direct to consumer marketing, are eager to learn new and more impactful ways to employ their marketing strategies to expand their customer base. Enter the UNH Food System Lab! Over the past few years, the lab has been leading two studies spanning both consumer values and behaviors when shopping for local food and the development of collaborative models for aggregating and marketing local food.
Join the UNH Food Systems Lab to explore the findings from both studies, which included two sets of interviews, a workshop series, and a robust survey of over 2,100 New Hampshire residents. Following the presentation, small group discussions will help identify how this research can inform both the NH Food Alliance network and ongoing research.
Featured in the session: Dr. Analena Bruce, UNH Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Nutrition, & Food Systems, + Director, UNH Food Systems Lab, Dr. Hannah Stokes-Ramos, Postdoctoral Research Associate, UNH, Cindy Zheng, Graduate Research Assistant, UNH, Olivia Burton, Graduate Research Assistant, UNH, Elise Neidecker, Graduate Research Assistant, UNH
Everything You Need to Know about the Northeast Regional Food Business Center
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish the Northeast Regional Food Business Center: one of twelve across the country. With $30 million of total funding, the Center aims to develop and amplify local and regional supply chains, with a strong emphasis on building equity and community resiliency into these systems. Join Chris Jones, Senior Director for the NASDA Foundation, for an interactive discussion about the vision and plans for the Center, an update on the anticipated timeline, and grant opportunities that will be available to the network beginning this year.
Featured in the session: Chris Jones, Senior Director, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation
Resources from this session:
- Learn more about the Northeast Regional Food Business Center here
- Sign up for the mailing list to receive updates here
BREAKOUT SESSION TWO
From Local Sourcing to Collective Action: A Lesson through Tortilla Making
Chef David Vargas, owner of Vida Cantina and founder of NE BIPOC Fest, will host a one of a kind session to inspire collective action in our work and our communities. While offering his tortilla-making wisdom with a demonstration, Chef David will share the story of how he has used his food and talent as a chef to be a community activist and changemaker, harnessing the tenets of collective action to find collaborators in his community to not only source and highlight local food on Vida Cantina’s menu, but also found and foster the success of NE BIPOC Fest. Join us to learn from a leader in our food system!
Featured in the session: Chef David Vargas, Owner, Vida Cantina + Co-Founder, NE BIPOC Fest
Resources from this session:
- Save the Date! 2024 New England BIPOC Fest, August 18, 2024 Learn more and sponsor here
- Learn more about Cultivate here
- Learn more about Tuckaway Farm here
- Learn more about Vida Tortilla here
Effective Communication in Advocacy: How to Motivate and Persuade Others with Your Message
So you have a policy you’re advocating for. How do you get others on board? This workshop will dive into effective communication strategies for conveying a message to different audiences to achieve your goal. We’ll discuss how to break down a complex policy into digestible content, how to cater that content to different audiences, and how to be compelling in your messaging. Examples are used with a focus on state-level policy efforts, but content will be widely applicable.
Featured in the session: Jess Wojenski, Training Manager, New Futures, Rebecca Woitkowski, Child and Family Policy Director, New Futures, Sammi Chickering, Communications Director, New Futures
Resources from this session:
- Access "Crafting a Messaging Strategy" here
- Access the "Audience and Messaging Worksheet here
- Access the "Policy Messaging Framework" here
Farm Succession Planning: a Necessity for a Sustainable Food System
With the majority of New Hampshire’s farmers and landowners aging towards retirement, agricultural lands are in danger of being lost to development. The future of our local food system depends on agricultural lands staying in agriculture. Succession planning for farmers is a vital part of ensuring that future, while also ensuring the economic future of the farmers themselves. Join Kali Lucey from Land for Good and Cara Cargill from the NH Agricultural Mediation program for an interactive discussion about farm succession planning in New Hampshire — where this issue currently stands, what resources and tools are needed to support growers, and how our network can collaborate to fill those gaps.
Featured in the session: Kali Lucey, Land for Good, Cara Cargill, NH Agricultural Mediation Program
Resources from this session:
- Learn more about the Environmental Mediation Center and the New Hampshire Agricultural Mediation Program here
- Learn more about Land For Good here
- Access the "A Team Approach to Farm Transfer Planning" resource here
Lightning Round Resources
Browse through the resources shared by presenters during the Lightning Round.
Community Solar Program
Mark Zankel, Revision Energy
Urban Agriculture and Small Farms Outreach
Anthony Muenene, AmericanFarmland Trust/NRCS
Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP)
Teresa Downey, NOFA-NH
- Learn more about the program and other NOFA-NH events here
River Region Market
Tanya McIntire
New Hampshire Food Waste Diversion and Sharing Initiative
Paul Karpawich, Amherst Community Foundation
- Learn more and apply for the initiative here
New Hampshire Agricultural Mediation Program
Cara Cargill
- Learn more about the Environmental Mediation Center and the New Hampshire Agricultural Mediation Program here
*new* NH Harvest of the Month Program
Stacey Purslow, NH Farm to School
- Access all of the new NH Harvest of the Month Program materials here
New Hampshire Farm to Early Childhood Education Coalition
Dr. Noereem Mena, Assistant Professor of Agriculture, Nutrition, & Food Systems, UNH
- Join the Farm to Early Care and Education Coalition here
- Farm to Early Childhood (FTEC) and Parent Engagement in New Hampshire Research Study: the Mena Research Lab at the University of New Hampshire is conducting a research study to understand farm to early childhood and parent engagement activities in early care and education programs in New Hampshire. Take the survey study here
NH Feeding NH
Jessica Newnan, NH Food Bank
- Learn more about NH Feeding NH here
