2022 MONADNOCK EARTH DAY FILM FESTIVAL

Hosted by the Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition (MFCC), Monadnock International Film Festival, &

The Monadnock Food Co-op

MFCC will partner with Monadnock International Film Festival and the Monadnock Food Coop, offering a virtual film festival as part of the region's Earth Day Celebrations. 

The Monadnock Earth Day Film Festival will take place from April 20 - April 22, 2022. This free online event will feature films and host panel discussions to celebrate and cultivate a more resilient world.

"We are excited to offer 3, short documentaries that shed light on current ag-related initiatives addressing climate change, regional food resiliency, and food access. A panel discussion will accompany each film. Panelists will unpack for audience members how they work to build a sustainable, resilient, and fair food system.” said Roe-Ann Tasoulas from Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition.

FILMS:

FARM FREE OR DIE - 2022

Climate Change | English | 30 min   

Extreme weather events are hitting America’s farmers hard and more frequently than ever before. "Farm Free or Die" shows how transformative agricultural policies can improve farming livelihoods while addressing the climate crisis. The stories of farmers on the front lines of severe environmental and economic adversity will catalyze support for policies that stabilize rural communities, strengthen food security, and incentivize soil health and carbon removal.

Roger Sorkin, American Resiliency Project, Writer and Director of Farm Free or Die, will be available for audience questions following the screening.

FARMER CEE - 2020

Social Justice | Food/Farming | BIPOC | English | 12 min

Clarenda "Cee" Stanley is currently the CEO/President of Green Heffa Farms. From an agrarian family in Alabama's Black Belt, Cee did not see herself as a farmer. But in 2018, she co-founded Green Heffa Farms and was selected to be the 2019 Featured Farmer for Hemp History Week. However, in 2019, Cee also found herself being solely responsible for Green Heffa Farms, and from there, she began to reimagine the legacy she wanted to leave for her children and grandchildren.

Panel discussion will follow screening.

HOPE ON THE HUDSON: GROWING WITH THE GRAIN - 2019

Food/Farming | Climate Change | English | 15 min                       

Upstate New York used to be a breadbasket of grain growing. Westward expansion yielded more ideal climates for growing and production shifted to the Midwest. Scientists, farmers, bakers, and brewers take part in a grain trial test that hopes to produce a new generation of grain suited for the northeast, bringing sustainable and more localized grain production back to the region.

Panel discussion participants: Sarah Cox, Tuckaway Farm; Sam Temple, Fire Dog Bread; Christian and Andrea Stanley, Valley Malt/Ground Up. Cox and the Stanleys are members of the Northeast Grainshed Alliance.

"MONIFF is thrilled to partner with the Monadnock Food Co-op and Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition to celebrate Earth Day by bringing the community together through diverse films and thoughtful discussions," said Dee Fitzgerald from Monadnock International Film Festival. 

This event is free; however, registration is required. Register at:

 monadnock2022earthdayfestival.eventive.org/welcome.

SPONSORS:

• Main Event Sponsors: C&S Wholesale Grocers, Prime Roast Coffee Company, Tasoulas Realty

• Farm to Community Supporters: W.S. Badger, Frisky Cow Gelato, Savings Bank of Walpole, True North Networks

• Film Festival Partners: The Monadnock Food Co-op, Monadnock International Film Festival

• Local Food Fighters: Yankee Farm Credit, Stonewall Farm, The Hungry Diner, Archway Farm, and the Monadnock Conservancy.

• Other organizations interested in sponsoring this event can contact coordinator@mfcccoalition.org.

Phase Two of the Monadnock Restaurant Project Launching Soon

KEENE, NH - In early February, The Local Crowd Monadnock, Culinary Journeys, and Food Connects partnered to launch the Monadnock Restaurant Project, a homegrown stimulus program to help give the local restaurant economy the shot in the arm it needs to get through this winter.

According to the National Restaurant Association, more than 69,500 individuals worked in restaurant and foodservice jobs in New Hampshire before the pandemic—representing 10% of the state’s total employment. However, more than 200 NH restaurants have permanently closed since last March. The Monadnock Restaurant Project looks to inspire community support for local restaurant owners and their employees to keep these businesses open, and their staff retained.

In one month, the project dispersed over 600 gift cards from 25 local restaurants to employers, including C&S Wholesale Grocers, Nanotech, and Savings Bank of Walpole. These businesses shared these gift cards with their staff and asked them to spend the cards quickly, providing an immediate shot in the arm to Keene's local economy this winter. The Keene Sentinel and Monadnock Broadcasting Group also distributed gift cards to community members through contests and giveaways.

Organizers are fundraising for the project through The Local Crowd Monadnock's community-based crowdfunding program. Currently, they have raised 82% of their overall goal of $30,000. Culinary Journey's contributed $10,000 to start this project, and eighty-two community supporters have donated an additional $14,500. This crowdfunding campaign continues through March: give.communityfunded.com/o/tlcmonadnock/i/tlc/s/stimulus.

The funds raised will be used to purchase a second round of gift cards from local restaurants and food businesses in the Keene area, businesses not included in phase one of the project.

The project also aspires to inspire others to pay it forward to support the local restaurant economy. Businesses such as The Richards Group, Historical Society of Cheshire County, and Northern Lights Cheerleading have launched their own efforts to support the Monadnock Restaurant Project movement.

“These cards are not gifts but a call to action,” said Luca Paris, owner of Luca's Mediterranean Café. “We anticipate that community members will spend at least twice the amount of what their gift card is worth, doubling the project’s impact by infusing $60,000 to these cash-strapped businesses. The more we spend locally, the more dollars we reinvest in our local economy!”

Learn more about the Monadnock Restaurant Project at tlcmonadnock.com/stimulus.

The Local Crowd Monadnock

The Local Crowd Monadnock is a community-based crowdfunding program helping start-up ventures, early-growth stage companies, and community-focused projects find access to capital. Since TLC Monadnock launched in March 2017, twenty-six crowdfunding campaigns have collectively raised over $230,000 from 1,990 supporters: tlcmonadnock.com.

Culinary Journeys

Culinary Journeys offers scholarships to culinary arts students from the Cheshire Career Center at Keene High School. Learn more on their Facebook Page.

Food Connects

Food Connects is an entrepreneurial non-profit that delivers locally produced food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming local food systems. The Food Hub aggregates and delivers from over 115 local farms and food producers to over 195 buyers in southeast Vermont, southwest New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. Their educational services focus Farm to School programming. Acknowledged as a statewide leader, the program supports over 30 schools to increase local food purchasing, school meal participation, and food, farm, and nutrition education. Together these core programs contribute to a vibrant local economy by increasing local food purchases by schools and improving students’ nutrition and academic performance. Additionally, Food Connects is frequently hired to provide leadership and consulting services for efforts aimed at transforming local food systems in the New England region: foodconnects.org.

2020‌ ‌Reflections‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌Executive‌ ‌Director‌

Wow! What a year behind us, and who knows what is in store for 2021. What we do know at Food Connects is that we are all grateful to have jobs and meaningful work and that our community needs us more than ever during this pandemic and with the disruption to the food system.

We are excited to share and celebrate with the community that we nearly doubled revenue in 2020, including $1 million of local food sales! That means more dollars in the hands of farmers in our communities in VT, NH, and MA and more dollars recirculating back into the local economy. We extend our deepest thanks to our farmers, food producers, wholesale customers, and our community for their widespread support! 

I am so grateful to the Food Connects team, which grew from 12 employees at the start of 2020 to 21 employees! I am so impressed with both the current staff in how they onboarded and trained the new team while doing their jobs, as well as the new team in adapting and getting up to speed quickly during the challenging times of COVID-19.

We continue to push hard on using our aggregation and distribution Food Hub to transform the regional food system. During the winter months, we are looking forward to bringing in source-identified food from real farms that may not fit everyone’s definition of local. What might be considered provocative, we see value in supporting local farms and supply chains that share our values of transparency, caring for the environment and people. Many of us are asking ourselves, “Would you rather eat broccoli from a family farm in North Carolina or a corporate farm in California?” and many of us are answering the former. Now it’s our job to figure out the logistics of making that happen and how that fits into our work ahead! 

We continue to play a leadership role in strengthening the entire food system, knowing that a larger effort is needed outside of our current programming. Our strong, sector-spanning relationships have proved crucial to the success of many of these conversations, and our ability to connect schools, farms, local businesses, and charitable food organizations has been a keystone in the region’s response to COVID-19. Programs we were involved with sprung up quickly; ranging from small, focused efforts such as the Weekend Food Boxes, to statewide initiatives like Everyone Eats! which first piloted in Brattleboro. As we head into the new year, reflection and thoughtful planning is a priority. We plan to convene a community dialogue, providing the space to breathe and think collectively about how to capitalize on and improve the new partnerships and systems which have sprung up over the past year. 

Our Farm to School program has developed a larger emphasis on food security in response to the pandemic, while still ensuring that robust farm, food, and nutrition education is supported in our schools. In the spring, we focused on ensuring gardens were planted and fully utilized as a refuge for families and students. This fall, we worked closely with administrators and food service directors applying for Coronavirus Relief Funding, maximizing the resources our local schools received.

This all of this means is that we are starting off 2021 with a bang and a clear focus on doing more of what is important towards our vision of Healthy Families, Thriving Farms, and Connected Communities.

- Richard Berkfield, Executive Director

Taste of Food Connects Builds Community

Food Connects successfully wrapped up our 2020 Taste of Food Connects initiative in late November—raising over $6,000 for the organization and promoting 75 different local businesses in the Brattleboro and Keene regions.

The Taste of Food Connects was a two-part event—a Silent Auction to raise money for Food Connects Annual Fund and a Local Passport to encourage community members to shop locally and support small, local businesses. “We are so grateful to all the individuals and businesses that participated in this event,” says Richard Berkfield, Food Connects Executive Director. “We are working hard to strengthen our community ties and fortify a resilient local economy. It is truly humbling to see so many people from both sides of the river, coming together and supporting our efforts to build community during these challenging times.”

The Silent Auction, along with donations from individuals and local businesses raised $6,036 for the organization, well over the goal of $5,000. These funds will support Food Connects Farm to School and Food Hub programs, and our mission to build Healthy Families, Thriving Farms, and Connected Communities. Over 75 local businesses and artisans donated auction items to help raise these funds. “Thank you to each and every donor who made this event possible,” says Laura Carbonneau, Food Connects Marketing Manager. “We couldn’t do our vital work without the support from our community members. And a special thank you to Vivace Realty LLC, Tito’s Taqueria, and Ganio Land Management for sponsoring our programming.”

The Local Passport was a point of pride for the organization—generating excitement and business as local shoppers supported restaurants, groceries, and other locally-owned stores. 23 different local businesses in the region participated, as customers purchased local products all vying to win the top prize of $1,000! In the end, nine local community members won $1,850 in cash and gift certificates to spend locally this holiday season. “We’d also like to thank our prize sponsors, Vivace Realty LLC, the Monadnock Food Co-op, Green Energy Options, Yahso Jamaican Grille, and Brown & Roberts for their generous donations and help to make our event a huge success,” says Carbonneau.

“Our goal was to bring together community members in a fun and unique way to bolster our local economy,” says Berkfield. “It was inspiring to see how we were able to build bridges and celebrate local—an encouraging sign for the year to come.”

If you are interested in supporting Food Connects and their work or to become involved in future initiatives, head to www.foodconnects.org/donate or email development@foodconnects.org.

Radio Interview: We're All in This Together

Last week our Farm to School Program Manager, Conor, and Marketing Manager, Laura joined Teresa Healy on her “We’re All in This Together” radio segment on WVEW 107.7 FM. They shared about our amazing programs, initiatives like Everyone Eats! Brattleboro and the Taste of Food Connects, and how we can stand together to support our community.