• Value Chain Coordination

  July Hiatus>See you in August! 2024 recap & looking ahead

  Posted by Eric DeLuca on July 16, 2024 at 11:08 AM

  Hi Value Chain Coordination folks,

  I hope you are able to stay cool and safe amidst the climate slings and arrows Mother Nature is offering us, in light of our ongoing role—as a species—in warming the planet at a record-breaking level.

  We’re Pausing for July and will Reconvene in August

  The Value Chain Coordination Community of Practice is taking a pause for the month of July, which gives us an opportunity to take a breath and appreciate the path we’ve walked together during the first half of 2024. Andrew and I look forward to an engaging, relevant, and strategic journey by your side as we move through the remaining seasons of the year. We’ll resume on August 20^th Register here if you need the invite.

  Recapping Our 2024 Journey So Far

  We started the year by re-grounding ourselves in how VCC shows up in our work and communities. Then we looked inward, to build resilience to show up fully in relation to the opportunities and challenges we face each day. We next turned our attention to the Local Food Promotion Program and broader LAMP grant opportunity from USDA, as its deadline approached. Going deeper into the local/regional food system infrastructure USDA is catalyzing, we focused on Regional Food Business Centers and the role VCC can play in their impact. We followed that by confronting the future and the next Farm Bill, looking together with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and National Family Farm Coalition at the aspirations and threats that our food systems leadership community is facing as this legislative process unfolds. Finally, in June we rolled up our sleeves in a skill-share format to support strengthening our awareness of the needs and cultural preferences of the communities we aim to serve.

  Appreciation for Our Generous and Helpful Guests

  We’ve been blessed by the experiences, insights, and tools several guests shared with us so far this year. Thanks again to Sheree Goertzen (New Venture Advisors LLC), Rock Woods (Delta Regional Food Business Center), Sarah Rocker (USDA-NIFA), Tyler Edwards (National Sustainable Ag Coalition), Antonio Tovar (National Family Farm Coalition), and Adam Brock (Regenerate Change).

  Special thanks to Sue Beckwith (Texas Center for Local Food), a longstanding and engaged member of the Community of Practice who was generous in sharing her experiences in a previous VCC support & development program, as well as in the current Delta RFBC!

  Looking at the Road Ahead as We Move into the Second Half of the Year

  In general, we start by listening to you and what’s on your mind. It could be what’s keeping you up at night, or a big, new opportunity you’re wrapping your head around. Last month’s session was informed by an inquiry from a community member during a previous session about how the roles and actions of VCCs change as they tune into the needs and preferences of particular communities. We also design sessions around strategic themes like exploring how we believe change happens and what it takes. We hope to support you this year in identifying leverage points in your work and building trust across your value chains en route to positive impact.

  Looking forward to picking up the conversation and learning together with you all on August 20^th. Register here if you need the invite.

  Here are some other FSLN offerings you may be interested in:

  Moving Toward Relationship in Food Systems Work Thursday, July 25th @ 1pm EST with Nicole Civita

  Nicole will offer a suite of signals and principles for moving toward relationship as leaders of change-oriented food systems work. Register here!

  
  

  Story-based Strategy & Narrative Transformation Thursday, August 22nd @ 1pm EST with Michelle Auerbach

  Through interactive exercises and discussion, participants will uncover the assumptions, logic, and values animating narratives, consider how and why the dominant narrative was constructed or persists, and identify opportunities to reframe the issue, and center on or amplify different voices. Register here!

  
  

  Stay tuned and keep in touch,

  Eric and Andrew

  Eric DeLuca replied 5 months, 1 week ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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