FARMINGTON – A collaboration between the Greater Franklin Food Council and the Healthy Community Coalition will be bringing a year long series of meetings to Franklin County with the intent to make stronger connections among folks working on and interested in the local food system.

“Over the past year or more, we have had so many folks inquiring about how they can get involved with the GFFC,” says Erica Emery, the Executive Director of the Greater Franklin Food Council. After meeting with Sabrina Keene at the Healthy Community Coalition, it became clear there was a huge opportunity for the groups to collaborate and work on community engagement together. “Our programs through the MaineHealth Healthy Community Coalition serve people all across the county and we want to make sure people are informed about our services and we want to hear about needs in our communities,” says Keene.

The plan is to hold these meetings quarterly with other groups in Greater Franklin county collaborating on meeting content and agenda items. The first Local Food Community Convening will be happening on Tuesday, January 21st from 2:00 to 4:30 in the Bass Room at Franklin Memorial Hospital. The format for the meeting will include an introduction from the Greater Franklin Food Council and an overview of the Local Food Plan that was developed in 2022, a Resource Spotlight on the Healthy Eating, Active Living program run by HCC, and breakout groups based on community interests.

“The real focus and purpose of these meetings is to get folks who are working in similar areas of the food system talking together,” says Keene who will be running a breakout group for food pantries and people interested in working on food security. Other breakout groups will include a farmer focus group led by Emery to talk about local marketing efforts for farms and a community interest roundtable led by Bella Russo, GFFC Steering Committee chair.

Pre-registration for the event is highly encouraged and can be found at the www.greaterfranklinfoodcouncil.org.