In its 27-town footprint, north central massachusetts (ncma) hosts 250+ farms, with most identifying as small or medium in size

The Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service awarded Growing Places Garden Project, Inc. a $406,518 Project Grant under the Regional Food System Partnerships program. Over a two-year period, Growing Places Garden Project will lead a comprehensive planning process to develop a sustainable and resilient local food value chain and business model for North Central Massachusetts. Key activities include conducting a strategic planning process using a SOAR analysis to formalize the partnership's vision, mission, and goals. A feasibility study will also be performed to develop an operating plan for a regional food campus. Additionally, Growing Places Garden Project will create a resource library and activate a communication network to connect diverse sectors within the local food system. The Regional Food System Partnerships program aims to support partnerships that bring together public and private resources to plan for and develop local or regional food systems.

However, agriculture only comprises about 2% of the region's total employment, and residents are among the unhealthiest in the state. Representing diverse sectors of the food system, the north central MA food system partnership has been building momentum over two years to create a sustainable and resilient local food system. During its development, covid-19 forced the region to move local food through new channels to keep the food system viable. This further increased awareness about ncma's untapped potential and laid a solid foundation for the partnership to build from. Consequently, the north central MA food system partnership is poised to create a vibrant local food economy and improve the health of residents. Over the next two years, they will conduct a comprehensive planning process to create a sustainable and resilient ncma food value chain and business model.key activities that will help achieve partnership goals include a strategic planning process via a strengths, opportunities, aspirations, results 'soar' analysis to formalize the partnership's vision, mission, values, goals ,membership, and structure; a feasibility study to develop an operating and business plan for a regional food campus; development of a resource library with available funding, technical assistance, and evidence-based information to help grow the food campus; and the activation of a BI-directional communication network to connect diverse sectors within the ncma food system.