Institutional Food Systems and COVID-19: Resource Guide

Peter Allison, Executive Director

Posted on March 17, 2020

Updated March 25, 2020

Please help FINE serve the network

What are the most pressing COVID-19 challenges you are facing at the moment? FINE asks YOU (institutions, farmers, processors, advisers, funders, allies) to fill out this form to guide us in offering the most relevant assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for everything you are doing to keep New England safe and fed during this time. Answers we get before noon on March 24 will inform the open forum (see below)..

Take the Survey

Dear FINE colleagues,

We join with you in facing the COVID-19 pandemic with concern and compassion - and action. Our intention at FINE is to stay on top of the rapidly changing conditions and emerging challenges for our partners and their constituents. We are shifting the majority of our staff resources to provide network services that meet unmet needs. This resource guide will be constantly updated. Please alert us to any errors or omissions. As this situation unfolds, we are confident that New England institutions will play a leading role in keeping our communities safe, healthy, and supported. What Do YOU Need? Please let us know so we can share cross-sector lessons, connect partners, and learn from one another.  

Matching Needs with Surplus

We created this Google Sheet to match up gaps and surplus in the New England institutional food system. We welcome anyone to add, view or contact others on the list directly. Examples of listings may include:

  • Those with a surplus of food that need a home (e.g. meat, seafood, vegetables, dairy, processed foods)
  • Those looking for local food to serve to displaced constituents
  • Those with a need for extra hands at their facilities (e.g. milkers, kitchen staff, drivers)
  • Those looking for job opportunities after their institution has closed or reduced labor
  • Those with additional storage space for food that needs to be preserved

Add Your Needs & Surplus

Open Forum: Institutional Food & COVID-19

Next Open Forum: Tuesday March 31, 2020, 2pm EST. 

Join our next virtual forum to discuss challenges and solutions in the institutional food system as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. In our last call, nearly 100 people participated from New England and around the US. Free and open to all. Your answers in the registration questions will guide the topics covered such as farm to school, corrections, campus dining, and health care.

Register for the Forum 

 

Open Forum Recording, March 24, 2020:

This virtual forum for dining directors and interested partners shared responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Nearly 100 participants from New England and around the United States. Recorded 3-24-20. We talked about food safety protocols, budgets, supporting staff in times of need, and how we can deploy and share resources to meet shifting needs and priorities. There was a vibrant discussion in the chat too: Download the Chat Log. Summary notes coming soon.

 

Other Ways to Stay Connected

  1. New England Farm & Sea to Campus Network Facebook Group: This group is for anyone (campuses, distributors, farmers) working in the campus sector - simply request to join the group.
  2. Dining Operators listserv: FINE hosts this listserv through Google Groups as a collaboration tool for dining program directors, chefs, other food service operators, sustainability managers, and community partners engaged in the procurement, preparation and promotion of foods raised, grown, and produced in New England.

Resource Guide for Institutional Food Systems and COVID-19 

Do you know of a resource that should be added here? Contact Sarah Lyman, [email protected]

Food Access

Financial support

Farm to School

Farm to Campus

Farmers, Farmers' Markets, Farming

Corrections

State-Specific Resource Lists

Remote Work

General & More