

SOUTHCOAST FOOD POLICY COUNCIL’S 2024 VIRTUAL FOOD SUMMIT
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES FROM FOOD SECURITY TO FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
Wednesday, September 18th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
This year’s Food Summit aims to illuminate the path from mere food security—having consistent access to food—to food sovereignty, which empowers communities to define their own sustainable and culturally appropriate food systems. According to the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance, food sovereignty is defined as, “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.”
Alison Cohen, Director and General Coordinator of the National Right to Food, will set the tone for the summit with an inspiring keynote address discussing the paradigm shift from a reliance on food pantries to the development of a regional food system grounded in food sovereignty, where everyone has power and choice in their food system.
Following Cohen’s presentation, we will have a moderated panel discussion of subject matter experts who will discuss the conditions needed for food sovereignty to take hold and actionable steps to get there.
Topics to be discussed include:
- Fair and Living Wages
- Price Gouging and the True Cost of Food
- Food and Seed Sovereignty
- Root Causes of Food Insecurity and How to Get Involved
- Don’t miss this engaging and thought-provoking evening as we envision a future where food sovereignty becomes a reality for all.
Growing Our Foundation: Volunteers and Viable Soil
Frogfoot Farm is bursting with life and activity this summer!
Restoring and fortifying the degraded soil at our farm has been a primary focus this year. From early spring, we have conducted soil tests, carefully applied amendments, spread compost, and planted cover crop seeds.
Soon we will turn this crop over, do more soil testing, spread more compost, and plant a fall/winter cover crop that will continue to nourish our soil through to next spring!
We cannot do this work alone. Building a team of volunteer farmers to work not just atFrogfoot Farm, but also regionally through our gleaning program, is central to our efforts. To date, we have had 27 unique individuals who have contributed 194 hours to Frogfoot Farm! Volunteers have, and will continue, played key roles in every task that we’ve accomplished this summer – we are incredibly grateful to them all and for their vital support!On August 14th, we hosted our second BioBlitz at Frogfoot Farm. These fun events engage volunteers as Citizen Scientists to systematically identify as many plants, animals, and fungi in a given area as possible. With the support of 11 Citizen Scientists we made 253 observations and identified over 80 distinct species! We hope to see all of these numbers grow as we conduct quarterly BioBlitzes moving forward!
September BioBites: Breaking Up with Forever Chemicals

With Guest Speaker Dr. Martin Hart, DC, of Keystone Total Health
From cleaning products to cosmetics, cookware to clothing, so-called “forever” chemicals have slowly leeched into our lives and permeated our entire existence. A by-product of short-term comfort and convenience, these highly toxic synthetic substances are harmful to our health and the health of the planet. Man-made forever chemicals are not good for you or your family. Join us for September’s BioBites to learn ways to limit your exposure to these harmful substances and how to properly detox from them too!
Continue reading this month’s BioBlog! Registration is now closed for this event.
HEALTH BEGINS WITH AWARENESS
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course now enrolling
MBSR Orientation Video (30 mins)
At the Marion Institute, we believe that health begins with awareness. So start your health journey by learning the art and science of mindfulness meditation. The fall eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course (MBSR) begins on September 25th.
Classes are held live-online on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 – 8:30 pm and run through November 13th, with one all-day session on Saturday, November 2nd. To learn specifics about the course, watch the 30-minute orientation video led by instructor, Jessica Frank.
What’s Growin’ On: Summer Updates from Grow Education
As the sun starts to set earlier and we are in the final days of planning before a new school year starts, there is much to reflect on as another Grow Education program year concludes.
Grow Education is successfully operating in 23 elementary schools, across four school districts on the Southcoast. At five New Bedford schools and at Wareham Elementary, students and teachers took advantage of the most productive part of the season and used the gardens to support project-based learning throughout the summer.
Ten garden liaisons helped with summer garden maintenance to increase community engagement, maximize yields, and ensure the spaces are ready for learning when the students return next month. Nearly 500 pounds of produce has been harvested from our Grow gardens and distributed to students participating in summer programming.
We have been busy preparing for our fifth year of partnership with FoodCorps and are excited to pilot a new regional model – first in the country – that will allow for more effective and equitable program implementation across the region.
A total of five FoodCorps service members have been hired to support the Marion Institute’s Grow Education team this upcoming academic year.
Lastly, on August 26th, we held an immersive professional development training for all 160 cafeteria workers from New Bedford Public School (NBPS). The training focused on the farm-to-school programming being implementing through school gardens and in classrooms and how these lessons support changes being implemented in the NBPS’s food service department.
A huge thank you to all the partners that make this work possible in support of our region’s students, we could not have done this work without you!

Sept. 18th, at noon
Meet the Farm Team Brown Bag Lunch and Farm Tour
This event as passed.
October 25th – 27th at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
Hold it to Heal It: Healing Trauma and Disease with Biological Medicine
This event has passed.
TICKETS GO ON SALE SEPTEMBER 3rd!
FOR ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR’S EAT LOCAL SOUTHCOAST CHALLENGE, WE THANK YOU!
Last but not least, this year we hosted our 2nd annual Eat Local Southcoast Challenge and doubled our number of participants from last year’s challenge! We hope you enjoyed the Challenge and saved the emails that were loaded with pertinent information about sourcing and eating locally.