Regional & National Events

UMass Dartmouth and Farm to Institution New England welcome you to attend the virtual 2021 New England Sea Summit focused on leveraging institutions to support local seafood producers, kelp and

The series will reflect the priorities of the communities of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the North Country of New Hampshire as determined by a community survey that found a strong interest in regenerative practices skill sharing. The series will cover topics such as the connections between soils, climate, food, and human health; Abenaki land, stewardship, and current projects; building soil and community composting; social justice issues related to land, agriculture and food; and how to partner with a diversity of plants, animals, and others for healthy and resilient ecosystems. Participants and speakers will have opportunities to share skills, ideas, and resources and collaborate to implement projects in their own community.

Speakers and facilitators at each event will be based in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the North Country of New Hampshire and will be discussing local projects, sharing climate-appropriate skills and tips, and highlighting resources and ideas available in these regions and beyond!

This webinar will use a racial equity lens to provide an overview of the history and policy that developed these institutions and using that same lens, reimagine an asset-based pluralistic model of collaborative research and outreach across these institutions to advance food system sustainability and resiliency.

Panelists from the land grant system and a Hispanic Serving Ag Institution will provide brief remarks followed by a facilitated discussion across panelists and with the webinar audience about how to create a more sustainable and equitable food system future.

Joshua Stoll is a co-founder of the Local Catch Network (LCN). Local Catch Network is LCN a community of practice, that is made up of fishermen, organizers, researchers, and consumers throughout North America who are providing local, healthful, low-impact seafood via community-supported fisheries and direct-marketing arrangements. 

The Northeast Farm to Institution Summit strengthens the regional food system by celebrating and supporting the role of institutions as anchors in the region. By bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders in a collaborative process, the summit generates ideas and connections that advance the ability of the Northeast to support viable farm, food, and sea businesses and healthy, just communities. The Summit welcomes both newcomers and pioneers on the forefront of the farm to institution movement to share their work, make connections, generate energy, and co-create strategies for addressing the most pressing challenges for our regional food system.

On Friday, April 2nd from 1:00-3:00 pm, the Northeast Healthy Soil Network, in partnership with Dartmouth College and Stonewall Farm is pleased to host a virtual panel of regional experts focused on designing payments for ecosystem services (PES) in the state of Vermont, the first of two panels on PES. 

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Richard Howarth, Professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College and Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Economics. Speakers include Dr. Alissa White, a postdoctoral scholar at UVM’s Gund Institute, Jennifer Byrne, District Director at the White River Natural Resource Conservation District, Jon Winsten, Agricultural and Environmental Economist at Winrock, and Ryan Patch, Dept. Dir. Water Quality, Agency of Agriculture of VT. The panel will begin with presentations with Q&A, followed by break-out rooms wherein participants and panelists will address the most pressing questions of this topic, which can be submitted by participants in advance upon registration. 

As the growing climate crisis impacts food producers across the country, the call for a Just Transition toward climate resilience is echoing in the halls of Congress.  In response, the Biden administration has made climate change adaptation a top priority for the U.S. government.

The National Family Farm Coalition, Friends of the Earth US, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Organic Consumers Association invite you to a free webinar on Thursday, April 8, from 2:30pm to 4:00pm Eastern. You may register here.

April is National Garden Month 🌱 School gardens are an integral part of farm to school and offer meaningful opportunities to engage youth in both learning about and contributing to racial equity and justice in the food system. Join National Farm to School Network on Tuesday, April 20 at 3pm ET for a Coffee Chat conversation on Facebook Live with Krystal Oriadha (National Farm to School Network, Senior Director of Programs & Policy) joined by special guests Betti Wiggins (Houston Independent School District, Officer of Nutrition Services) and Dorothy Grady-Scarbrough (Mississippi Farm to School Network Co-Director and Founder of Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture) to hear their experiences, ideas, and visions for how gardening with youth can advance racial equity and food sovereignty in our communities

The next installment in Vermont Law School’s Embedded Racism in the Law virtual panel series features attorneys and organizers who serve and advocate on behalf of farmworkers. Join us as we examine how the legacy of discriminatory Jim Crow-era policies persists in agricultural workers’ intentional exclusion from labor protections, and discuss how farmworkers and their advocates are fighting to improve working conditions, immigration status, and access to justice.

If you eat / cook / buy / grow / love food, this event is for YOU! As we reflect on a most extraordinary year, what did 2020 teach us? What are the fundamental ways we’ve changed and grown within our communities? What are our new visions for the future of food and food access? Our guest panelists are joining us from Boston and Northeast MA, Connecticut, New York, and the Merrimack Valley — come hear their experiences and share their wisdom at this special virtual event!

This virtual event hosted by a North America-based coalition of food justice organizations will offer panel discussions, music, and other creative elements to elevate the demands of food producers and providers who have been marginalized by the process of the UN Food Systems Summit taking place this very day, September 23, 2021.

Farm Aid’s Farmer Town Hall will be held online via Zoom on Friday, September 24, from 1pm - 5pm ET. The event is free and open to registered farmers, ranchers, farm advocates, and farm and food organizations.

The Farmer Town Hall will create space for farmers and allies to share their stories and engage in thoughtful conversation with policymakers on what change is truly needed to build a more equitable and resilient food and farm system.