The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (UMD) Sustainability Initiative sponsored a Regional Sustainability Exchange on Sustainable Food at the Woodland Common on March 25, 2009. About fifty representatives of university programs and community organizations in Southeastern Massachusetts participated in the half-day planning session focused on strategies for improving regional food security and ways to support a sustainable local food system. Presentations on creating agriculturally-friendly by-laws in local government, land preservation, edible schoolyards, buying local and other topics were included in the session. Presenters included Kathleen Christianson of the UMD Office of Campus and Community Sustainability, local farmer and Dartmouth Agricultural Commission member Sue Guiducci, Toni Thatcher of the Wareham Public Schools, Andy Pollack of Silverbrook Farm, and Derek Christianson of Brix Bounty Farm in Dartmouth. SRPEDD and UMass Dartmouth will soon announce the formation of a Regional Council on Sustainability with working groups who will target efforts at achieving sustainability in energy, food and agriculture, transportation, economic development and natural resources. For more information about the process, contact Director of the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability Susan Jennings at 508-910-6484.
 

(Top row, left) Kathleen Christianson of the UMD Office of Campus and Community Sustainability welcomes the conference participants to the session and gives an overview of the issues of local food sustainability. (Top row, center) Nancy Durfee (left) of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) talks with Freetown Selectperson and New Bedford Workforce Investment Board member Jean Fox. (Top row, right) Local farmer and Dartmouth Agricultural Commission member Sue Guiducci describes the work of the Massachusetts Agricultural Commission in increasing the number of towns with local commissions and Right-to-Farm by-laws. (Middle row, left) Toni Thatcher of the Wareham Public Schools shows a photo of the garden she created with the Wareham Middle School after-school program. (Middle row, center) Derek Christianson of Brix Bounty Farm in Dartmouth shares his thoughts about creating sustainable sources of local food within the Southcoast. (Middle row, right) Bristol Community College professor Nancy Lee Wood makes a point about the increased nutrient value of organically-raised vegetables. (Bottom row, left) Sarah Cogswell of the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership (SEMAP) talks about ways of supporting local food producers and linking them to farmers' markets. (Bottom row, center) Mary Beth Soares and Paul Seeley of Southcoast Hospitals' Sedexo food service sample some of the lunch items. (Bottom row, right) Susan Jennings, Director of the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability at UMD thanks the participants for attending the session.