Blog
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New Program Supports Local Food Shed Monday, April 19, 2010
Phillip Johnston is an editorial fellow at CreateHere. He brings us this update on a Benwood Foundation initiative supporting the local food shed.
Local food production is on the move in Chattanooga and the Benwood Foundation is ready to launch a comprehensive reform of our food system designed to create a comprehensive culture of local food production and consumption. Chattanooga, meet Gaining Ground.
Gaining Ground is a new initiative envisioned to facilitate a sustainable, cohesive, vibrant, and distinctively Chattanoogan foodscape through grants, coordinated efforts, and increased public awareness. By building strong connections in our food system, supporting partners from farm to table, informing policy makers, and inspiring the public, Gaining Ground aspires to help bring better food to everyone and advance a movement to help Chattanoogans view food in a radically new way.
Within the next three years, The Benwood Foundation will invest up to $1.65 million in Gaining Ground. At the helm is Jeff Pfitzer, a community leader with considerable experience in local food issues. Pfitzer served as the first director of Crabtree Farms, a local public-private partnership to renew urban agriculture, and most recently as Director of Special Projects at RiverCity Company.
We want to eat locally in Chattanooga and realize that supporting local food production is one of the simplest and most beneficial ways to stimulate the our community economy in a period of national economic downturn. And what’s the result? We’ll eat better, feel healthier, and purchase safer—all while helping local food producers bring their very best to the community table.
For more information on Gaining Ground, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or log onto the Benwood Foundation’s website at http://www.benwood.org.
