Meeting the Moment

Watch this high quality recording of a panel discussion with food system leaders working to support food security, sustainable agriculture, and strategic action here in the Granite State.

Every November, the Kearsarge Food Hub hosts an annual event called Love Local where the primary goal is to, in the words of Adrienne Marie Brown, “come back to the scale of being a human in community.”

It’s far too easy to become overwhelmed by the big picture and to feel like there isn’t anything we can do to improve the world out there.

The Love Local event is an opportunity to bring it back to the local level and learn about work that’s happening right here and now all around us, efforts that we can all support and be a part of with real impact that we create together. 

Because we are the Kearsarge Food Hub and our focus is food, Love Local takes a closer look at our local and statewide food system specifically, where a food system is all the many channels and structures and policies and humans that move food from our farms to our plates. It’s about using food as a catalyst for lifting up entire communities. And, perhaps most importantly in this modern moment, it’s about remembering to find love and joy and belonging in the work that we do and in the communities where we live. 

Love Local is about learning directly from folks doing the work to strengthen our food system, taking a behind the scenes look and asking ourselves not just where does our food come from, but who does our food come from?

The theme of this year’s event was Meeting the Moment, which felt particularly powerful, as we took a close look at current events of the time - like the threat to SNAP from the government shutdown and the impending loss of food assistance for millions of Americans - while exploring how to build long term food security for all neighbors right here in New Hampshire.

Thanks to our amazing panelists from NH Hunger Solutions, NH Food Alliance, and NOFA-NH, the connection between farm security and food security and strategic action became very clear during the event - and there’s a place for all of us in this movement to invest in local, regenerative agriculture and food distribution.

One theme that emerged is that we are always investing in a food system through food choices and where we spend our dollars. The question is, which one? 

Are we investing in business as usual that prioritizes corporate profits over planetary and public health, compromising the future of our food supply and leaving lots of people out along the way?

Or are we investing in a local food system that grows truly healthy food, takes care of our farmers, nurtures our lands, and ensures everyone has access to the foods they need to thrive?

We’re seeing the need to make this critical choice now more than ever, with massive cuts to federal food assistance, the significant loss government workers, agencies and services that support sustainable agriculture and small farms, and the rising cost of living putting more people in the unacceptable position of not knowing where their next meal will come from.

Watch Love Local: Meeting the Moment to hear how key organizations from across New Hampshire are addressing these challenges from a systems level, and to hear about some positive developments for our food system including the launch and implementation of the first-ever NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan!

We have a long road ahead to truly redesign how we move food in our communities, and we have many great tools to help us do just that thanks to things like the NH Food & Agriculture Strategic Plan. 

To reflect on a quote shared last night by Jarod Anderson:

“This is our obligation. To lay our hands lightly on the things we can influence and press in the direction of our values. If enough people press in the same direction, the ground will rumble and the boulder will shift.”

Please feel free to share this message and recording far and wide! There is tremendous power in numbers.

Thank you to these event sponsors!