New England Food Hub & Processors Network

ABOUT THE NETWORK
 

The New England Food Hub & Processors Network aims to build a New England food system where local products can be harvested, packed, processed, ordered, transported, and delivered in service of New England’s hospitals, K-12 schools, restaurants, universities,  grocers, and consumers.

The food hubs and processors in this network are values-aligned, meaning they prioritize supporting local producers who grow, raise, and catch food in ways that are ecologically sustainable for our region. Together, they are working towards equitable access to fresh, nourishing food for all, prioritizing those who have historically been marginalized, and partnering with producers who provide their workers fair wages.  

While they share a similar vision for building a regional foodshed, each organization or business supports their producers, food makers, buyers, and consumers in unique and diverse ways. They are non-profits, for-profits, and cooperatives. They utilize trucks, warehouses, storefronts, commercial kitchens, processing equipment, ordering software, spreadsheets, and more to make local food systems work. They all have one thing in common: they see the value in collaboration over competition.

BACKGROUND
 

Developing this network is the culmination of years of interest and exploration around bringing New England-based food hubs and processors together. Farm to Institution New England hosted conversations at the Northeast Farm to Institution Summits in 2015 and 2017 which led to a USDA Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) grant that funded the research and publishing of New England Food Hub Network: Exploring Options to Expand Food Hub Collaboration & Increase New England Farm to Institution Sales. Since 2020, processors throughout New England have been connecting regularly through the Northeast Food Collective, coordinated by Health Care Without Harm. 

At the 2023 Northeast Farm to Institution Summit, the NH Food Alliance, which coordinates the NH Food Hub Network, and Health Care Without Harm co-hosted a session that brought together food hubs and processors from around the region. The session gauged interest from food hubs and food processors in joining a New England-wide network and what they felt they would gain from working with their peers in the region. By the end of the session, it was clear that food hubs and processors were energized to establish a network and that there was an ecosystem of organizations eager to support the hubs and processors in the network building process. 

The New England Food Hub & Processor Network is innovative in that it invites these historically siloed but parallel conversations to now occur at the same table where collaborations are more efficiently identified and cross-sector lessons can be shared more readily.

MEET THE NETWORK COORDINATORS