Local Food Works Annual Partnership Meeting

A “Let’s Be The Region That Food Built” Event
Friday, October 20, 2023, 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Perry Auditorium – 95 Pleasant Street, Gardner, MA

Parking is in the back of City Hall

Agenda

8:30 AM  |  Registration

9:05 AM  |  State of the State, Ayn Yeagle, LFW Steering Committee Member & Executive Director, Growing Places, Leominster

9:20 AM  |  Local Food System Panel
Focus: The importance of agriculture and local food in North Central MAvand how each sector contributes to the local economy

Featuring:

Mike Pineo, Farmer, Pineo Family Farms, Sterling
Erica Bosse, Farmer, Flicker Hill Homestead, Gardner
Roy Nascimento, President & CEO, North Central MA Chamber of Commerce, Fitchburg
Steve Adams, President & CEO, Community Foundation of North Central MA, Fitchburg
Chris Hendry, President & CEO, IC Federal Credit Union, Fitchburg

10:10 AM  |  Anchor Institution Local Purchasing, Ruben Dario Taborda, CEO, Automation & Validation Solutions, Pennsylvania
Focus: Why and how to break down barriers to local procurement

10:40 AM  |  Group Activity: Building Bridges by Breaking Barriers

11:10 AM  |  Food System Affinity Tables and Tangible Asks

11:30 AM  |  Closing Remarks by, Ayn Yeagle, LFW Steering Committee Member & Executive Director, Growing Places, Leominster

This event is hosted by Local Food Works, a network of farmers, nonprofits, businesses, and residents seeking to build a more equitable, sustainable, and accessible local food system in North Central MA. We’re working to make healthy, local food accessible to all by providing training and support to help local farms scale up; creating a food hub to aggregate, store, and distribute food in the region; and strengthening coordination and communications among all sectors of the NCMA food system.