Farmlands and Wildlands Only Exist with Community
Two significant reports, “A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience” and “Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future,” produced by the New England Food System Planners Partnership and Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands, and Communities, provide important insights into the supply chains of the New England food system and the preservation of wildlands.
While the reports were produced separately, at Food Solutions New England, where we collaborate with both groups, we understand that these two issue areas are inherently connected. Only by taking an integrated approach that simultaneously pursues a just and resilient food system, while stewarding biodiversity through the conservation of wildlands, woodlands, and more, in partnership with rural and urban communities, can we build a sustainable, just, democratic future.
The good news is that we are not far off from realizing this approach. Each report recognizes that urban and rural communities and landscapes are critical for conserving biodiversity and promoting health and well-being. “A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience,” which calls for 30% of food consumed in New England to be grown here, emphasizes the importance of collaboration and local decision-making. It calls for recognizing the diversity of cultural and agricultural practices that exist here. The “Wildlands in New England” report, released in support of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands, and Communities’ goal of conserving at least 10% of land in the region as wildlands, calls for recognizing indigenous and local communities’ long and deep relationship with the land, and consulting with those communities when setting conservation goals.
As a multi-racial, six-state network, FSNE applauds the emphasis on engaging, consulting, and ultimately following the lead of the communities that will be most impacted by these goals. We recognize that these communities have an inherent right to govern and control their resources, including food, wildlands, food forests, urban farms, and seacoasts. It is crucial to focus attention on historically marginalized communities and shape policies that reflect their unique needs, knowledge, and lived experiences.
By doing so, we strengthen the resilience of our food system, landscapes, and seascapes, and advance a more just distribution of their many benefits. To do so, we must come together to continually strengthen democratic decision-making and governance that centers the community. We can accomplish this by keeping our collective attention on the threads that connect sustainable food systems, biodiversity, equity, and democracy, and by building collaborations and coalitions rooted in trust and shared values and goals.
The benefits of this integrative, collaborative approach are many. For instance, through the adoption of regenerative, agroecological farming practices, which includes agro-forestry in sustainable, climate-smart managed woodlands, we can reduce the pressure on wildlands caused by unsustainable land use and agricultural practices while simultaneously enhancing nutritional health and resilience. And, by advocating for safeguarding more wildlands, and strengthening the protection of many existing wildlands we can ensure our forests, wetlands, and other wild areas can serve as buffers against climate change, support species biodiversity and pollinators essential for agriculture, and protect coastal environments.
Food Solutions New England is committed and calls upon all to support integrative approaches to building a just, sustainable, and democratic future. We look forward to engaging as a collaborative partner with both groups to advance their (shared) goals through a community-first, integrated approach to a sustainable future, and we invite others to join us.
Slowing Down, Oil on canvas © by Susan D. Szwed
UNH Chief Sustainability Officer Tom Kelly is also founding executive director of the UNH Sustainability Institute, home of Food Solutions New England. He lives in Portsmouth.
Shane Rogers is the communication director of Food Solutions New England. He resides in Vermont.
This commentary previously appeared in the Manchester Union Leader and the Bangor Daily News.