Plan to Grow

Action Research Towards Scaling Up Local Food Production in Kingston & Countryside

NFU Local 316 officially publishes Plan to Grow Final Report
National Farmers Union Local 316 is pleased to present the final report of the Plan to Grow action research project, funded through our NFU New Farm Project. In this report, you will find priorities identified by a wide range of people interested in a more sustainable food and farm system in this area — farmers, processors, distributors, restaurateurs, food security advocates, and eaters. We encourage you to use this report as a starting point for conversations, goal-setting and actions aimed at developing our local food and farm economy, and we welcome feedback on the ideas included in the report. Please send any questions or comments to: info@fooddowntheroad.ca.

Project Overview

Plan to Grow: Scaling-Up Local Food in Kingston & Countryside is being initiated by the NFU New Farm Project in order to develop a strategy for future work in two distinct areas of local food system development: farmer support programs and food community stakeholder engagement. Two separate contracts are being issued – one for the farm support aspect and one for the community engagement aspect.

Plan to Grow’s project deliverables in 2011 will contribute to the following larger outcomes:

  • Development of a longer-term strategy to promote & support the viability of local farms and stimulate economic growth in the local food system
  • Development of content for future editions of the Local Harvest newspaper as well as for the annual Fall Gathering event of the NFU New Farm Project in late November 2011
  • Development of a project vision for a second phase of the NFU New Farm Project (beyond June 2012)
  • Fostering co-operative ventures and informal partnerships in the local food system

Mission Statement

Plan to Grow: Scaling-Up Local Food in Kingston & Countryside aims to engage local farm and food community stakeholders through action research in the areas of farmer support and food community engagement to support the ongoing development of our sustainable local food system, including the viability of local farms.

Objectives

The two coordinators will work separately (in general) on each respective area of research in order to achieve the following parallel objectives:

  • Through an environmental scan of best practices, learn about successful programs that exist in other regions and share with farm and food community stakeholders.
  • Identify an inclusive list of area stakeholders in the Kingston area and engage them in a review of opportunities and challenges (SWOT analysis).
  • Develop recommendations for future development of our food system based on the best practices review and SWOT analysis and share these along with the research findings with the broader farm and food community through a final report and presentation at the Fall Gathering.

Plan to Grow – In the News