Join The New England Farm and Sea to Campus Network

Attention grad and undergrad students:  theNew England Farm & Sea to Campus Network, hosted by Farm to Institution New England (FINE), has officially launched, which means that you can now sign up to get involved in the network.

The mission of this network is to build a community of higher education and food systems stakeholders who connect, share, and collaborate to develop transparent regional supply chains and educate campus communities about regional food systems.

There are two ways that you can get involved in the Network:

STEP 1. JOIN THE FARM & SEA TO CAMPUS NETWORK

Want to declare your interest in the network? Join the contact list! Members of the list will receive 2-3 emails per month with general updates from FINE as well as targeted updates for people at colleges, universities and private schools.

Join the Farm & Sea to Campus List here.

STEP 2. SIGN UP FOR A WORKING GROUP

If you would like to be more actively involved and help fulfill the network’s vision, sign up for one of the working groups.  The network anticipates that each group will come together, most likely via conference call in early June, to start to outline some priorities and action steps. At that time, the groups will determine their frequency of meetings and other details.

The steering committee hopes that participants in these groups will be active, so please consider whether you have a couple hours per month available for participation. Your involvement will help determine our collaborative impact on the regional food system.

The working groups include:

• Outreach & Communications
• Supply Chain Development
• Education & Engagement
• Evaluation & Tracking

Please follow this link to join a working group.

Thank you,

The Farm & Sea to Campus Network Steering Committee

Working Group Descriptions

We anticipate that each group will come together, most likely via conference call, in early June, to start to outline some priorities and action steps.  At that time, the groups will determine their frequency of meetings and other details. It is the steering committee’s hope that participants in these groups will be active, so please consider whether you have a couple hours per month available for participation. Apply to join a working group viathis link.  If you’d like more detail about each of these groups, please visitthis link.

Outreach & Communications

The Communication and Outreach Working Group focuses on strategies to improve connectivity and information sharing between campuses and related stakeholders who are or would like to be engaged in the campus local food movement.

Supply Chain Development

The Supply Chain Development Working Group will identify and develop supply chain models that increase the availability and accessibility of local, sustainable food for campuses. It will facilitate coordination and communication between supply chain partners (campuses, distributors, suppliers, producers, etc.) to identify and leverage opportunities to aggregate demand and improve sourcing and distribution processes.

Education & Engagement

The Education Working Group will focus on educating and activating students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders of participating institutions who are interested in initiating or enhancing the sourcing and on-campus use of local, sustainable foods.

Evaluation & Tracking

The Evaluation & Tracking Working Group will propose indicators that will help the Farm & Sea to Campus Network determine the success of their efforts, review and assess existing evaluation and metrics tools, provide recommendations for next steps around data collection and analysis, and specifically consider recommendations for improved tracking and traceability for local foods in the region.