The “Other” 30 by 30
Progress Toward a Resilient Food System?
A Saturday morning at the Farmers’ Market in Skowhegan, Maine. Photo courtesy of Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets
In 2017, a landmark article in BioScience offered a comprehensive analysis of climate-related threats to the global biosphere and set forth an ambitious agenda for the global conservation movement. In “An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm,” the authors recommended protecting 50 percent of the Earth’s land and forests to preserve intact ecosystems, protect species under threat, and galvanize a movement in support of natural and wild lands’ capacity to mitigate the impacts of a changing climate. In the hopes of spurring immediate action toward this broader goal, subsequent scholars and activists proposed an interim goal of protecting 30 percent of the globe by 2030. This “30 by 30” milestone has become a global rallying cry, resulting in new programs and funding, new protected lands and habitats, and new challenges.
Locally, however, the call for “30 percent by 2030” could refer to another ambitious goal: to produce 30 percent of the food consumed in New England within the region by 2030. With the underlying premise that expanding our region’s capacity to grow, process, distribute, and consume food yields diverse and meaningful benefits to many corners of society, advocates in New England have conducted corollary analyses and set similar targets to those adopted across the conservation sector. Initially, authors of A New England Food Vision set out to explore what our regional landscape, rural economies, and community food pathways might look like if we were able to produce 50 percent of the region’s food within New England by 2060; more immediately, the New England Feeding New England report outlines pathways, opportunities, and challenges to accomplishing an intermediate goal of producing 30 percent of the region’s food locally by 2030. This 30 by 30 food production goal has gained significant traction, with all six New England Commissioners of Agriculture signing on to support the effort in 2023 and with a number of New England states adopting similar targets within their own state-level climate plans and food system development strategies.
“It is fair to assume that our food system must undergo a significant transformation to achieve our target of producing 30 percent of our food within the region. This transformation is both daunting in its scope and inspiring in its potential.”
Behind much of the momentum toward 30 percent regional food production by 2030 is the New England Food Systems Planners Partnership (NEFSPP), a collaboration of seven state-level food system organizations; six state agricultural, economic, and environmental department representatives; and Food Solutions New England, a regional network that unites the food system community. In September 2024, NEFSPP released the Local Food Count Dashboard, a compilation of data and analysis designed to address a foundational question: “If we’re going to get to 30 percent by 2030, where are we now?” Prior to the Local Food Count effort, Vermont stood alone in New England as the only state that had consistently conducted robust reporting on how much of the food sold in Vermont was grown in Vermont. Now, the Local Food Count dashboard provides a preliminary benchmark for each state’s progress toward a 30 percent target.
The findings reveal that we, perhaps unsurprisingly, have a long row to hoe.
Courtesy of New England Food Systems Planners Partnership
Though these calculations note significant challenges in accessing quality data sources and in applying consistent methods of analysis across states and market channels, it is fair to assume that our food system must undergo a significant transformation to achieve our target of producing 30 percent of our food within the region. This transformation is both daunting in its scope and inspiring in its potential, and the work from NEFSPP researchers and partners has provided key insights into what such a transition may entail. Expanding the local food economy to this extent would require significant shifts in how land is used, how massive international grocery conglomerates allocate shelf space in New England stores, how farmers plan for the growth and design of their operations, how New England consumers purchase their goods, and more. If we are to achieve 30 percent by 2030, our diets may need to shift, land may need to be cleared and brought into agricultural production, and the very nature of the modern supermarket may need to be drawn into the spotlight—each of which is a radical proposition in its own right. That said, with a long way to 30 percent regional production, the “low-hanging fruit” remains unpicked; aspiring farmers can be linked with underutilized cropland, public investments in processing and distribution infrastructure can facilitate new opportunities for regional producers, and institutional procurement policies can leverage the purchasing power of larger buyers to drive the marketplace in new directions.
The Local Food Count project provides a unique and essential articulation of the “here” as we explore how to get “from here to there.” In this issue, we invited Hope Kelley of the Boston Food Forest Coalition and Tom Kelly, Karen Nordstrom, and Shane Rogers of Food Solutions New England to offer their perspectives on our collective journey toward a regionally resilient food system. The Local Food Count report provides a deep well of benchmarks for assessing our future progress in reimagining the web of fields, warehouses and delivery trucks, cafeteria and restaurant kitchens, and store shelves that our meals must navigate. The two reflections presented here provide a compelling contribution to the 30 percent by 2030 discourse—connecting historical, international, and intersectional contexts with lived experience to create a clear call for investing in relationship as an essential strategy toward a just transition of our shared foodscape.
Alex Redfield is the Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England. He lives in South Portland, Maine.
Reflections from Our Community
Seeding Food Systems Change: An Integrated Approach to Transformation by Tom Kelly, Karen Nordstrom, and Shane Rogers
READ MORE →Beyond the Supply Chain: Building Local Food Resilience through Relationship by Hope Kelley
READ MORE →