Today the Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) is announcing a new program鈥擜SPIRES (Alternative System Pathways for Interconnected Resilience, Equity, and Sustainability), an effort that focuses on visioning, testing, and implementing the future of food systems in the region in collaboration with communities. Born out of the recognition that our current food system is fractured, and that local and regional food systems are a potential pathway for improving resilience, equity, and sustainability, ASPIRES will work directly with community partners to consider food system futures for Vermont and the Northeast, and leverage these conversations for future research pilot projects, testing, and potential implementation of alternative food system futures. This community-centered research program is a multi-year commitment from the FSRC and will be a tiered research and community engagement process focused on creating and expanding innovative solutions for our food systems futures. The program will begin with a regional listening tour to introduce the FSRC to the region and stakeholders, to listen and learn about the concerns and challenges in the food system, and to work together with community partners to discover potential solutions to test and explore further. Working directly with community partners, is critical for this research to interface with the diverse communities across the Vermont food system to ensure challenges faced by those working in the food system are addressed. As part of the announcement today, the FSRC is releasing a request for proposals (RFP) to develop and implement the community listening tour over the coming year in concert with the FSRC.
The listening tour is intended to catalyze alternative food system approaches, programs, and ideas for the FSRC to test and assess for their potential impact on resilience, equity and sustainability of the region鈥檚 food system. The FSRC plans to work with community partners to fund projects in the coming years to test new technologies, ideas, and system changes for the region and measure their impact to inform the potential implementation of these strategies to strengthen our food system. ASPIRES represents a long-term commitment from the FSRC to bridge researchers and practitioners together, culminating in research and action to improve our food system.
Proposals for the listening tour approach are welcome from across the entirety of 日韩无码; community partners are required and must be compensated. Proposals should develop a community engagement plan and implementation scheme to connect with hundreds of diverse individuals and community partners over the coming year. Projects can request up to $200,000 for the project duration with an anticipated start date of 3/1/2023. Additional information about the RFP can be found on our website.
