Infrastructure
Expanding on and creating new building blocks to enhance our growing local food economy.
Committee Goals:
- Compile and support existing regional infrastructure
- Stimulate and carry out new infrastructure projects
- Measure the effect of infrastructure work on the local food economy
Monadnock Menus
This project of the Infrastructure Committee is all about connecting local farmers and producers with local chefs and restaurant owners, to increase the sale of local foods in our downtown while supporting our local producers and economy. The Infrastructure Committee is launching the Monadnock Menus program by creating public education materials to generate awareness and support around this issue, looking into specific infrastructure and services that are needed to accommodate small-scale local producers to make the sale of their products to restaurants more viable, and creating press materials and public education materials to launch this initiative.
To help restaurants better advertise their purchasing of local food and to help customers identify the establishments that serve local food, the Infrastructure Committee launched a Monadnock Menus symbol so you can search for restaurants that display this symbol in their window. To become an Monadnock Menus participating member, please contact us for more information.
To get involved with the Infrastructure Committee, please contact us.
Monadnock Matchmaker Event
Each year, the Infrastructure committee organizes the Monadnock Matchmaker Event to connect local food producers with area buyers. It’s like speed-dating for food businesses and farmers. Sellers are farm or food businesses based in Southwestern New Hampshire and surrounding towns. Buyers include supermarkets, co-ops, restaurants, hotels, schools, institutions or food processors in search of New Hampshire produce, ingredients or products.
The Matchmaker event provides participants with:
- An opportunity to meet one another to talk about products and needs.
- Information on how to develop effective, mutually beneficial working relationships.
- Resources to build and strengthen marketing efforts.
Registration for the Monadnock Matchmaker Event is $10, and sponsorship of the event is $60.
To learn more or to sign up to attend our next Matchmaker Event, please contact us.
Farmers Market Access Program
The Farmers Market of Keene has obtained an EBT machine in order to take both credit and debit cards and SNAP (federal food stamps). The community that uses SNAP has been unable to access fresh, locally-grown food at local farmers markets in our area until now. We need to reach out to this community to draw them to the market and offer incentives such as Food Stamp Match Programs that are being used effectively all over the country.
