Western NY Regional Food System Assessment & Planning Initiative

​Western NY is home to over 2 million people and hosts a rich and beautiful natural landscape where agriculture and food are central to both the culture and the economy.  The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s food and agricultural system has magnified the importance of having a strong and resilient regional food and farming system. A robust regional food system brings resilience and food security in an ever-changing world and offers jobs and wealth creation opportunities for rural and urban communities alike. We can reset the course towards a food system that provides healthy and fresh food for all, builds sustainability and resilience in our production and processing sectors, and grows businesses and jobs in Western NY.
In the face of COVID-19, climate change impacts, and other system shocks, this moment calls for visionary and bold structural change rather than fragmentary approaches across the region. The Western NY Regional Food System Assessment and Planning Initiative is the 18-month planning phase of a longer-term project designed to improve regional food systems.  This assessment and planning process includes Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties.  In this process businesses, not for profits, local government and agencies, and others will collaborate closely to set a cross-county, cross-sector vision and actionable implementation plan.   

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What is a food system?
When we buy our food, we only see a very small part of what it takes to produce and move that food to the point of sale. Behind a bag of potatoes, a pack of chicken or a head of broccoli is a network of activities from the farm to the plate. The food system encompasses all the processes needed to provide a range of food options throughout the year including: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consuming and disposal.  These supply chain activities operate within a sea of food and agricultural policy, regulation, finance, insurance and more.  Local and regional scale food systems often interconnect with national and international supply chains. 

Project Summary

Philanthropists in Western New York State have collaborated to fund a consultant-led assessment and planning process to establish a regional vision for an equitable, effective, efficient, and resilient food system. After a rigorous interview process, a consultancy team organized by SCALE has been retained to lead this comprehensive project. The team consists of Anthony Flaccavento from SCALE in partnership with Euneika Rogers-Sipp, John Fisk, and Michael Shuman. Each has notable achievements in food, farm, and equity development projects; combined, this consultancy team embodies the broadest diversity of knowledge and strategies that will inform the most impactful approaches for western New York food system stakeholders to build a vibrant, resilient, equitable, and profitable food system. 

Project Goals

• Articulate a vision for a regional food system that achieves resiliency, strong economic performance, equity, and reduced hunger and food insecurity
• Build consensus for strategies for a more just, equitable, sustainable, resilient food system
• Deliver clear, actionable, realistic solutions continuously and throughout the project timeline that are implementable by the diversity of the region's food system stakeholders 

Process & Approach

The SCALE team will lead a highly participatory 18- month process that meaningfully engages the full spectrum of WNY food system stakeholders, both rural and urban, across the nine counties. The engagement of farmers, businesses, food justice activists, nonprofits and others, will enable us to develop a plan that recognizes the many complex challenges, yet focuses on opportunities for real change. SCALE's approach will:

• be fully transparent; provide ample opportunities for engagement from start to finish;
• help empower underrepresented groups and historically marginalized communities;
• utilize virtual and on-site interviews and community conversations to fully understand the issues while building ownership of the solutions

Assessment & Planning

SCALE​ will focus on identifying opportunities for real change in the WNY Food System by embodying these principles:​

• Co-design Engagement Process: ensure diverse representation and engagement throughout the project design process; January-March 2021
• Engage Stakeholders and Communities in Food System Planning: invigorate broad-based community participation using community- and culturally-appropriate outreach and engagement strategies to instill ownership and authenticity of food system goals; March 2021-March 2022
• Develop Concrete Recommendations: the SCALE team will deliver meaningful recommendations for action-oriented sustainable change in the WNY Food System for the present- and near-terms and for longer-term strategies; January 2022-June 2022
  
• ​Engage, Listen, Learn: build a shared, realistic understanding of WNY Food System's core issues, challenges, and opportunities; January-March 2021