The Northeast Center staff are involved with or have completed several initiatives aimed at strengthening regional food systems. This is a selection of some of these initiatives.
- Enhancing Food Security in the Northeast
The Northeast Center's signature food systems research project, which ended in February 2018. - USDA/AMS Technical Assistance Project, a multi-phased project that currently is providing technical assistance to recipients of the USDA-AMS Farmers Market and Local Foods Promotion Programs.
- Impacts of Multifunctional Operations on Long-Term Sustainability and Prosperity of Small and Medium Sized Farms and Rural Communities
The Northeast Center brought together partners including University of Vermont and the USDA Economic Research Service to study small and medium-sized farms involved in multifunctional operations in the U.S., with an emphasis on the New England region. - Enhancing the Viability of Underserved Small Farms and Rural Communities Using Insights from Emerging Network Science
The Northeast Center brought together partners including Delaware State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Tennessee State University to help expand networks for small farmers in Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. - The Northeast Center's Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Committee comprise members from both the Northeastern Cooperative Extension Directors (NEED) and the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (NERA).
- National Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Network
Organized by the Regional Rural Development Centers to provide information about the increasingly contentious and complex agricultural and rural development U.S. policy issues, NARDeP focuses on four signature research areas including food systems development. - eXtension Community of Practice: Local, Regional, and Community Food Systems
The Northeast Center collaborated with faculty and educators across the nation in the development of an eXtension Community of Practice (CoP) in the area of local and regional food systems development. It shares models, findings, best practices, challenges, conceptual frameworks and data. It is increasing awareness about regional food systems, and is enhancing the ability for Extension personnel to contribute to their development.
