Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities Harvesting Opportunity: The Power of Regional Food System Investments to Transform Communities

Wednesday, November 15, 2017
10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
New England Room
600 Atlantic Avenue
directions & visitor information

The Federal Reserve System and USDA have partnered to develop a book focused on the community and economic development opportunities of investing in regional food systems. In the book you'll find articles written by regional food systems investors, funders, and financial intermediaries including Coastal Enterprise Inc., RSF Social Finance, TomKat Foundation, Reinvestment Fund, and JPMorgan Chase. In connection with the book's release, the Fed and USDA are co-hosting regional meetings to advance local work on regional food systems strategies.

This invite-only meeting is being convened by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Board and Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI). The meeting is intended to bring together regional food systems investors, funders, and financial intermediaries to discuss the current state of investment in the sector, as well as what is needed to move the investment ecosystem to the next stage of development. The conversation will focus specifically on the investment ecosystem in New England, but is expected to have relevance and applicability to the broader national dialogue on regional food systems investment.

In addition to having the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about the future of regional food systems investments, meeting participants will have ample opportunity for networking and new partnership development, with the aim of propelling investment in the regional food sector in New England.

This meeting is intended for the following types of attendees:

  • Philanthropic organizations
  • Impact investors
  • Asset managers or financial advisors
  • Banks
  • Credit unions
  • Community Development Financial Institutions
  • Other financial intermediaries
  • Local, state, or federal government stakeholders

The co-hosts thank the planning committee for their work bringing this meeting together. The planning committee consisted of the following individuals:

Anthony Poore, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Gray Harris, Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

Jeff Rosen, Solidago Foundation

Christine James, The John Merck Fund

Lisa Sebesta, Fresh Source Capital

Dorothy Suput, The Carrot Project

Andrew Dumont, Federal Reserve Board

John Hamilton, NH Community Loan Fund

Janice St. Onge, VSJF Flexible Capital Fund

Alex Linkow, Fair Food Fund

Mark Watson, Boston Impact Initiative

David Robinson, USDA Rural Development

Agenda

9:30 a.m.

Registration

10:00 a.m.

Welcome

Prabal Chakrabarti

Senior Vice President and Community Affairs Officer

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Lael Brainard

Governor

Federal Reserve Board

Gray Harris

Senior Program Director, Food Systems & Natural Resources

Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

10:30 a.m.

Investing in New England's Regional Food System: Opportunities and Challenges

Moderator:

Gray Harris

Senior Program Director, Food Systems & Natural Resources

Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

Panelists:

Lisa Sebesta

Managing Partner

Fresh Source Capital

Alex Linkow

Director

Fair Food Fund

Jeff Rosen

Chief Financial Officer

Solidago Foundation

Mark Watson

Managing Director

Boston Impact Initiative

During this session capital providers and funders supporting regional food systems development in New England will reflect on their experiences in the sector and how those experiences can inform future efforts to deploy capital and other resources to regional food enterprises.

12:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 p.m.

Partnering to Scale Impact in New England's Regional Food System

During this session participants will have the opportunity to develop new partnerships, and deepen their relationships with existing partners, through a series of facilitated discussions on important topics regarding the provision of capital and other resources in support of regional food systems in New England.

3:00 p.m.

Moving Regional Food Systems Forward as a Network

Members of the planning committee will reflect on the key takeaways from the day and describe ways for participants to stay engaged in efforts to continue building and strengthening New England's regional food systems funding environment.

Participants are encouraged to stay until 4:00 p.m. for an informal networking hour to continue conversations that began throughout the day.