Regional partnership to assess food system

TROY, N.Y.>> Capital Roots announced details Wednesday of a new regional project that will assess food production, processing, distribution and consumption in the region.

PHOTOS: Assessment announcement at Capital Roots

The Greater Capital Region Food System Assessment was announced at a press conference Wednesday morning at the Capital Roots Urban Grow Center on River Street. Despite being moved from Denison Farm in Schaghticoke due to rain, the event still drew a large crowd eager to hear about the initiative.

Capital Roots Chief Executive Officer Amy Klein explained that the two-year assessment will identify methods to increase equity and economic resilience in the region’s food system.

“Today’s announcement is about food, economics and partnership,” Klein said, noting the project has been many years in the making.

She described the assessment as “much-needed for the future viability of our region’s agricultural community and the health and equity for low-income families.”

Capital Roots, a 40-year-old, nonprofit organization that nourishes area communities through several programs, is partnering with six academic institutions and more than 20 other stakeholders to conduct the comprehensive assessment. The program will be based on the consumption of four counties – Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Albany – and production from a larger, 11-county region, called the “foodshed.”

The mission of the assessment, which is already underway, is to improve the region’s food system, Klein said, specifically for low-income consumers and regional producers. The goal, Klein continued, is to “identify strength and weaknesses, gaps and opportunities in our regional food system to guide future business, nonprofit and governmental initiatives to strengthen the regional food economy and increase healthy food access.”

The final report is expected to be published and presented in the fall of 2018, after two rounds of primary research. A vast network of partner agencies, farms, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals representing all food system sectors has been assembled to guide the assessment process. Partners include the Albany Community Action Partnership, Agricultural Stewardship Association, Capital District Regional Planning Commission, Commission on Economic Opportunity, local food author Amy Halloran, regional planner Rocky Ferraro, Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, Field Goods, Food Pantries for the Capital District, Hawthorne Valley, Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp., Indian Ladder Farms, New York Farm Bureau, Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council, Schenectady County Community College, University at Albany Office of Sustainability and School of Public Health, SUNY Cobleskill and Whitney Young Health Centers.

“This is a great story and a good example of collaboration,” said state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, who attended Wednesday’s announcement. “When we work together, things just seem to go better.”

Ball spoke of connecting dots across the state between those in the food system and those who need access to that system, “and this here today is an example of building that relationship.”

Funding for the Greater Capital Region Food System Assessment includes a 2016 Conservation Catalyst Grant from the state Conservation Partnership Program, administered by the Land Trust Alliance in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as a grant from the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region’s Community Impact Fund.

“The Land Trust Alliance applauds Capital Roots for the creative and impactful partnership that has been developed for the Greater Capital Region Food System Assessment,” said Ethan Winter, New York Senior Program Manager for Land Trust Alliance, in a news release. “We believe this project can serve as a model and example for other community-focused initiatives in New York and nationally.”

For more information on Capital Roots and the Greater Capital Region Food System Assessment visit www.capitalroots.org.