By KATLYN PROCTOR
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — A well-made, locally-sourced bruschetta only takes a few ingredients says Shawn Walch, board member of the Claremont Growers Collective. Add some olive oil from Claremont Spice & Dry Goods. Dice some tomatoes from Beaver Pond Farm in Newport. Slice some bread from the Springfield Co-op and there you have it.
While this run-of-the-mill recipe is easy to make and devour with little thought process, unbeknownst to consumers is the impact their purchase has on sustaining farmers.
The Claremont Growers Collective, a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the region’s food system and reliance, is seeking to change that.
“Things are changing. Times are changing. With the way that technology is going, with the way the political climate is going (not just our country but the world); we need to be in a position to be more self-reliant as a community, as a county, as a state, as a region,” Walch said. “Any efforts that are working toward that are gunna be worth investing in.”
This mission is the driving force of the CGC. Reconnecting consumers with growers, producers, processors and more — reigniting that interest in local food options — remains a crucial directive of the operation.
Easier said than done, though.
Make Farming Viable Again
After the Claremont Farmers’ Market fell to the wayside several years ago due to lack of vendors and interest, consumers were left with little information on local food availability. A little-known secret: more than 50 farms work with the nearby land, churning out fresh meat, vegetables, prepared goods, maple syrup and more.
Before this, the bustling mill city slowly diminished over time as businesses moved out of Sullivan County, taking its workforce with it. The now-reduced consumer base — a mixture of food secure and food insecure people — is left to support an entire food system.
Walch, who recognizes the importance of providing resources to the food insecure population, also recognizes that without farmers, there’d be no food.
“I want to stress that there are a lot of organizations that are focused on food resiliency but from the side of trying to get local foods in the hands of people that are food insecure. That’s great, but if farmers cannot afford to farm, there will not be any local food to get to those people,” he explained. “One of the main things we’re focused on is trying to help make farming viable for farmers. The way to do that is to increase their sales; to get more money in their pockets. When we talk about connecting growers and consumers, we are not necessarily focused on food insecure consumers. We’re interested in those who have the capability to go out and source local food.”
The current political climate has pushed the concept of food resiliency to the forefront like never before.
While President Trump continues to impose tariffs on many of the countries neighboring the U.S., the impact remains to be seen. With many additional projects funded by federal programs in limbo (the USDA being one of them), there are more questions than answers.
Just last week, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen held a USDA roundtable in Londonderry, New Hampshire, with more than 20 farms from New Hampshire to candidly discuss the interruptions stemming from the White House.
“So many of the programs that are being cut are the programs that are positioned for us to be competitive and to make the investments to get what we all want, which is successful farming; that’s what I’m going to continue to fight for,” Shaheen said during the event.
Available in Your Town or City
Forging ahead, the Claremont Growers Collective is concentrating on spreading the good word about the many tactile farmers in the local food resiliency food chain.
Their easy-to-navigate website (complete with an interactive map that highlights farms on both sides of the Connecticut River) is a consumer’s dream. While sitting at home on the couch or sitting in the driver’s seat before hitting the road, consumers literally have an arsenal of food-related information at their fingertips.
It has never been so easy to know where to shop and who to support, what their products and pricing is and how to support them at future events.
The CGC hopes to continue to partner with local businesses and organizations on those events to showcase local food offerings while driving home the ease of access and abundant variety.
During its initial founding, the CGC partnered with Vital Communities of the Upper Valley to become one of nine hubs actively working toward a more resilient food system. They continue to partner with them today and have big future plans.
“We could showcase local food to people and showcase what you could do with it; encourage people to come out and meet the farmers and also meet the consumers who are interested in local food,” Walch said.
On Saturday, March 29, the Eagle Times and Claremont Growers Collective will release a 24-page publication promoting the industry at-large. The group has also contracted with a local videographer to beef up their online presence, merging a world full of dirt with an amorphous one.
For more information, including an interactive map of local food options, visit claremontgrowerscollective.org. Donations are always accepted. To make a donation to the nonprofit, email claremontgrowerscollective.org.
