Attention to our local and regional “foodsheds” has never been more widespread or more important, given impacts of climate disruption, loss of farmland to development, pollution of aquifers, degradation of soils from decades of chemical farming, and increasing periods of drought experienced by areas of the country we once regarded as our national and endlessly productive larders.
Massachusetts state, local, and regional organizations and staff have worked diligently over the last decade or so to evaluate our regional productivity, consider its strengths and weaknesses, and plan for increased food self-sufficiency in coming decades. One major culmination of that work is the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan, a report developed in 2014 and 2015 with input from more than 1,500 people. See the report and the (shorter) summary at http://mafoodsystem.org/plan.