Task Force for New England LIFE
building our sustainable regional food systems now
Locally Integrated Food Economy

first draft, one-page concept paper

The Task Force for New England LIFE is a grassroots initiative to mobilize concerned citizens in our communities in a regionwide effort to feed ourselves in the 21st century—a century already swept into climate change, peak oil, ideological extremism, and war. At a time when few leaders are thinking ahead of this curve, citizens themselves must take action to prepare for inevitable and immanent changes. Yet, while many citizens recognize our peril and the urgent need for changes, the situation is so immense and complex, few have a vision and responsibility large enough to address our challenges.

For 30 years, NOFA has planted seeds for a regional food system all across New England, and into New York and New Jersey. Those seeds have grown into strong, community-connected networks of growers, producers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and support services that demonstrate the methods and social structures of a new kind of food system. It is now time to enhance and accelerate the evolution of those networks into full scale, integrated, sustainable, regional food systems.

LIFE is acronym for Locally Integrated Food Economy. LIFE is rebuilding our regional food systems from the bottom up as inter-connected, self-sustaining community farming and food system infrastructures. LIFE will assure our region’s capability to feed our communities and families in the next decades of change and challenge.

New England LIFE will pursue five specific initiatives:

1) Farmland Conservation: Farming’s first need is land. To protect and steward this most precious resource is a highest priority, and previous efforts fell short of the mark. Regional Farmland Trust Funds must be established to acquire key farmlands and sustainably manage these resources as public demonstrations of effective ecological stewardship.

2) Sustainable Soil Fertility: Sustainable soil management steadily increases fertility. A prime pressing challenge is to renew our agricultural soils and sustain their fertility and productivity before oil reaches $100 a barrel. Natural materials and methods are available to enhance soil fertility with sea products, stone dusts, composted organic wastes, microbial treatments, new and traditional management practices.

3) Youth Vocational Training: After soil, our most precious resource is growers—people with knowledge, commitment and experience to grow food. To feed New England in this new century will need tremendously more farmers, farm businesses and farm families. Young people must be recruited into farm careers, given effective training in sustainable agriculture, supported to acquire land, equipment and other resources to begin farming, and assured fair access to regional markets.

4) Farm-to-Market Infrastructure: Elaborate infrastructures of organizations, corporations, trucking, warehouses, processing plants, public policies, and more must be designed, built and connected to deliver locally-grown food to regional markets. Small farm cooperatives increase capabilities to wash, process, package, store, and truck farm products to urban markets. Networks of warehouses and trucking must handle and move farm products to market. Barriers to regional marketing of local foods must be reduced.

5) Customer Education to Regional, Seasonal Foods: Consumers, restaurants and food services need guidance to become aware of new food choices, and to change their culinary choices and menu selections to incorporate and emphasize regional, seasonal foods. Education and health care institutions are keys to deliver this new food awareness and dietary style.

New England LIFE is much bigger than NOFA. Many other partners and players in the regional food system must become engaged in this initiative. However, as growers and producers, NOFA has a special duty to call regional food communities together to begin this initiative. And we must begin in earnest, because global ecological changes will be urgent for our next generation.

For more information: David Yarrow: dyarrow@nycap.rr.com