Concord Food Report: A Community Effort

Members of the community gathered last night to discuss the current state of Concord's food system, and to brainstorm about ways to preserve and enhance that system for the future of the town.

As any number of global variables could potentially stand between a town and its nonlocal food supply, a comprehensive food report is a useful tool that can help identify the strengths and weaknesses in a town's ability to produce food locally.

Last night's workshop at the was hosted by Christina Gibson and Jamie Pottern, graduate students at the Conway School of Landscape Architecture, and leaders of the Community Food Report effort. Over the course of 12 weeks, the two students will assist the town in compiling a baseline of information documenting everything from active food production and distribution within town to offering suggestions on future courses of action to maintain a healthy food system.

With so many separate efforts in and around Concord to promote local, sustainable food, Pottern said a food plan would "help synthesize all of these things going on." Taking inventory and creating a plan, she said, "is the next step to a resilient food system."

One of the goals of the plan, Pottern said, is to "illustrate the current reality versus the vision for a local food supply."

The plan will aim to identify the areas of town where food production, processing and distribution already take place, as well as opportunities — such as open land for cultivation or commercial space for processing and distribution — where the overall system can be improved.

Attendees to last night's workshop were eventually broken up into groups to discuss a variety of different topics on which to make observations and recommendations including farming and cultivation; distribution and buyers; processing, storage, and preservation; waste management; environmental stewardship; and education.

Another public meeting to discuss the findings of last night workshop will be held on March 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the , following the Lunch for Dinner evening with Chef Alden Cadwell, director of Concord Food Services. The final report with information and recommendations is expected to be presented to the town on March 31.

For more information on the Concord Community Food Project, visit Food For Thought.