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����̽̽’s (����̽̽) Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) recently completed a listening tour with various food system actors across New England. This tour initiated was conducted to kick off a new project, “Alternative System Pathways for Interconnected Resilience, Equity and Sustainability” or ASPIRES. As a first step, a research team gathered ideas from actors across the industry about possible research topics to support future food system pathways.  The participants were identified through a network of partners engaged in the New England Food System Planners Partnership and Food Solutions New England; the team tried to identify food system actors from all sectors relevant to food systems.  

The listening sessions sometimes focused on clusters of people from similar sectors, and at other times piggybacked on already scheduled events. Most of the sessions were virtual. A total of 24 sessions were held with 344 participants. These participants also completed a pre-session survey to prepare them for the questions in the sessions and to help the facilitators. Participants were from various sectors including Research and/or Extension, Education, Government, and Food Processing & Distribution, but most commonly working for nonprofit or community organizations. Participants represented all six New England states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. In addition, three participants were from outside the region, working in Idaho, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. 

The main results are grouped below:  

Purposes of research for Food Systems professionals and organizations: 

• Economic and market development: data to make decisions and includes guiding investments. 

• Informing local and regional planning: data also informs this including targeted interventions that align with regional priorities.  

• Maximizing Human Health and Well-Being: data to tailor programs to meet community health needs. 

Research needs identified:  

• Inform their work to make it more effective 

• Inform policy with referenced research (both to improve current but also formulate new) 

• Advocate for funding: is it targeted well and equitably? 

Desired Research Topics: 

• Processing, Distribution and Farming Infrastructure for regional food systems. Identifying gaps, but also innovative pilots for new models including decisions about best land use. 

• New markets and alternative food systems: Farm to Institution (who benefits, best practice); secondary and non-capitalist markets (food recovery and use of waste). 

• Farming as a profession: new farmers; viability of farming professions (wellbeing and income).

Preferred research approaches: 

• Accessible and appropriate data: more regular and local data; syntheses of existing data. 

• Quantify costs and benefits of programs: both traditional economic impacts and other program impacts such as health or food access. 

• Reciprocity and better communication back of results and findings. 

Future priorities: 

• Economic impact and market development, especially regional food systems. 

• Informing local and regional planning and making sustainable decisions with data. 

• Maximize health and wellbeing (food security, farmer livelihoods and environment). 

 Moving forward, the FSRC will incorporate some of the priority topics into new calls for research and / or pilot projects. 

Download the ASPIRES Report