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In 2002 the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) published Northeast Farms to Food: Understanding Our Region’s Food System. Northeast Farms to Food (NEFTF) provides a comprehensive look at the Northeast food and farming system from production through processing and distribution to consumption and diet. It includes over 100 charts and graphs, “farm and food facts,” explanatory text and a chapter on findings and recommendations. NEFTF was the first phase in an ongoing process to provide our region’s policymakers, educators and citizens with accurate and up-to-date information to help them advocate for a variety of food and farm system issues. NESAWG also wanted to chart trends – to see how we as a region are faring on our path toward a more sustainable and secure regional food system.
In 2004, NESAWG and its partner, the Office of Sustainability at the University of New Hampshire (UNH/OS), published a NEFTF Update. The Update focused on new facts and figures from the 2002 Census of Agriculture which released its data earlier that year. The 2004 Update also included new GIS maps that told their own compelling stories.
In 2006, NESAWG partnered with UNH/OS, the Northeast Midwest Institute and the NH Center for a Food Secure Future to present the Northeast Farms to Food Update. The focus of this Update was the federal Farm Bill which was reauthorized in 2008. This Update contains some “snapshots” of the Northeast that relate to the role and impact of federal farm policy on our region. For those not familiar with the Farm Bill, we hope this update offers an informative peek into this complex legislation.
While the original version (2002) is more than ten years old, it is useful for seeing the drastic changes in the Northeast leading up to that time. It is also useful for seeing the very handy way the data and information was presented.
Download Northeast Farms to Food (2002)