New Hampshire Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan
The food system we want in New Hampshire starts with you.
The New Hampshire Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan streamlines our collective efforts to obtain funding, pass policies, develop programs, invest in infrastructure, and build networks in support of a thriving, fair, and sustainable local food system in the Granite State. It is an actionable roadmap for positive change in the New Hampshire's food system.
The Strategic Plan proposes over 140 recommendations that address 27 agriculture and food-related topics through Product, Market, and Issue briefs. Each recommendation lays out a specific suggested task, from policy changes and funding opportunities to program expansion and technical assistance. The recommendations are also categorized by the stakeholders who are best suited to move the work forward and the briefs are mapped across the Strategic Plan's Vision & Goals and Persistent Themes. The tangibility of the Strategic Plan’s content puts thousands of professionals working across the food system in the driver’s seat, allowing them to deliver ideas for change to the right people at the right time and driving positive impacts across the food system.
The entirety of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan—every brief, recommendation, and outcome—is grounded in the goal of increasing the farm, fish, and food business viability and equity in our state. It was spearheaded by the NH Food Alliance in partnership with the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, UNH Extension, and more than 30 other food system organizations and hundreds of individuals deeply committed to New Hampshire's food system.
Download the print version of
the Strategic Plan here
Our Vision
We envision an equitable and just food system in New Hampshire in which healthy and local food is accessible to and valued by all Granite Staters; where producing food can be a viable occupation, and farmers and fishermen are well-resourced and supported in producing a variety of crops and products; where there is a thriving local and regional food economy and jobs within our food system that provide livable wages, supportive workplace conditions, and access to healthcare and other benefits; where the New Hampshire food system is a steward of our natural resources and is resilient in the face of a changing climate.
An Opportunity for Transformation
Like the rest of the country, New Hampshire is reliant on a fragile and complex global supply chain to fulfill one of our most basic needs: the food we eat. A strong local food system contributes to regional food security, economic stability for farmers, fishermen, and food producers, regional economic growth, protected open spaces, a stable food supply, climate resilience, and improved public health and nutrition. Yet, a strong regional food system is also a complex challenge. The NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan is designed to align the hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals working to create a stronger food system in our state and to amplify the opportunities that will transform our food system in a way that works for future generations.
The decision to create a strategic plan for New Hampshire’s food system developed from the NH Food Alliance’s participation in the New England Food System Planners Partnership, a collaboration between seven state-level organizations, six state agricultural, economic, and environmental department representatives, and Food Solutions New England (FSNE). A 2023 report published by the partnership, titled A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience, explored what it would look like for 30% of the food consumed in New England to be produced from within the region by 2030.
Two strategies are recommended by the report to move each state closer to the stated goal: develop a state-level food system plan and perform a benchmark assessment of how much local food is currently purchased in the state. New Hampshire heeded this call by launching the development of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan and completing its benchmark assessment, called the Local Food Count, in collaboration with the other New England states. New Hampshire’s Local Food Count estimates that 3.1% of the food consumed in New Hampshire was produced in the state in 2022. The NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan identifies strategies that will increase this percentage and support the viability of New Hampshire’s farmers, fishermen, and food producers
The Briefs
explore 27 products, markets, and issues that are foundational to the New Hampshire food system.
The Recommendations
are the future-focused content of the Strategic Plan: explore all 143 recommendations below!
The Strategic Plan was developed through a number of processes, meetings, and endless collaboration from September 2023 through March 2025. Explore all of the milestones!
read about how this was developed
Three groups of people lead the process— the Strategic Plan Development Team, the Advisory Committee, and the Brief Authors. Get to know everyone who ensured the Strategic Plan is comprehensive and impactful.
Meet the PEOPLE BEHIND THE PLAN
Authors were challenged to view all the planning efforts through two lenses: equity and farm viability. Explore these pages to ground yourself in related data and understand how the lenses were applied.
The NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan offers a wealth of insight, knowledge, and ideas. Its implementation will focus on helping stakeholders understand how to use it as a tool to access, prioritize, and present ideas for change to the right people at the right time.
With adequate funding, the NH Food Alliance aims to advance the Strategic Plan in the following ways:
- Ensure the content of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan is easily accessible to all, connecting organizations, businesses, funders, legislators, state agencies, and others directly with the information they need.
- Host events, beginning with the 2025 NH Food System Statewide Gathering in May, to coordinate around the Strategic Plan and chart a clear path forward.
- Collaborate with strategic partners to organize and analyze key recommendations, creating a menu of “shovel-ready” action items that can guide research and policy priorities across the state and region.
In your role within the New Hampshire food system, we encourage you to engage with the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan by:
- Using its information and recommendations to guide decision-making and inform future initiatives within your organization.
- Taking part in events that bring together stakeholders to synthesize and coordinate around the Strategic Plan.
- Leading or collaborating on advancing recommendations that align with your work and contribute to our shared goals.
- Advocating to those in positions of power to prioritize recommendations that will drive positive change in our food system.
- Leveraging the content to foster new relationships both within and outside the food system, enabling you to do more impactful work.
- Using the Strategic Plan as a tool to clearly communicate the challenges our food system faces and the opportunities we have to strengthen it.
Special thanks to the following organizations and people who helped make the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan possible.
UNH Extension and its staff for their unmatched support throughout the strategic planning process as Advisory Committee members, subject matter experts, and in various other planning, execution, and funding capacities.
Food Works Group and Claire Erley for expert organization, thought leadership, and true partnership.
Vermont Farm to Plate and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund for being a collaborative and guiding force, sharing the systems and design of their strategic plan to help craft New Hampshire’s.
The Strategic Plan was developed with generous support from the following organizations.
Funding for the 2025 NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan was made possible by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.
