About the Local Foods Action Plan LA
The Local Foods Action Plan Lewiston Auburn (LFAP LA), Maine is a community-developed, collaboratively led multi-year plan to strengthen and define Lewiston Auburn’s unique local food system and economy. LFAP LA serves as a:
- RECORD: of collective planning and visioning
- VISION: of a thriving, robust regional food system
- ROAD MAP: to help grow & strengthen local food businesses
- OPPORTUNITY: to align & coordinate food-related efforts & initiatives
- TOOL: to advocate & leverage resources to transform our local food system
Four Goals and fifteen actions stewarded by Local Food Action Plan coordinators, Good Food Council of Lewiston Auburn (GFCLA) and St. Mary’s Nutrition Center along with a dozen community champions and many more supporters will guide the work over the coming five years.
Coordinators
Ensure the full Action Plan is moving forward in a strategic, thoughtful, and sustainable way including convening and supporting ACTION LEADS in engaging partners and the public to complete Actions that meet overall Plan Goals.
Action Leads
"Champions" that help ensure an Action is completed or significantly moved forward including convening ACTION TEAMS.
Action Teams
Convened by an ACTION LEAD, a small group of stakeholders collaborating on a regular basis to complete or significantly advance a specific Action in the Plan.
Action Supporters
Engaged by ACTION TEAMS at critical junctures to successfully complete a specific Action in the Plan.
How the Work Gets Done
Circles of Engagement & Leadership
The Local Foods Action Plan LA work is accomplished through intentional cross-sector collaboration and coordination. LFAP Coordinators regularly convene community leaders and food system champions, or, in the context of the plan “Leads,” as a means to coordinate and catalyze their efforts while building capacity to nurture newer initiatives. The plan is intentionally a blend of ongoing work and new emergent goals and opportunities in motion. This allows Leads to more easily weave the plan actions into their existing workflow and to facilitate achievable milestones. Leads rely on others in their network and the broader landscape – colleagues, partners and community members – to infuse capacity and support them in moving the work forward, often formally or loosely convening the individuals into “action teams.” Finally, Leads and corresponding Action Teams look to the Supporters out in the broader community at critical junctures along the way for feedback, guidance, and/or forward momentum.
See yourself in one of these circles? Let’s be sure to link up.
Community at the Center: How the Plan Came to Be
The First Plan
Originally known as the Local Foods Local Places Action Plan Lewiston Auburn, LFAP LA was born in 2019 following a months long planning process and a multi-day community workshop that brought together dozens of citizens along with municipal, agricultural and business leaders to envision a more robust local food system and economy for the region. The original plan crystallized a local food vision into four goals and sixteen action steps and engaged a team of cross sector champions to lead the plan over the coming three to five years.
Local Foods Action Plan LA Re-Envisioned
Following a global pandemic, three years of collaborative work and many milestones achieved, the inital plan was ready to be refreshed. A years-long update process ensued that included listening sessions, interviews, and meetings with municipal, business, and food system leaders culminating in 100+ person Community Workshop and Celebration. Throughout the process, focus was placed on engaging community groups not previously heard from and identifying, prioritizing, and transforming people’s food vision into actionable steps. The result is a more comprehensive and dynamic plan that includes entirely new actions alongside ongoing evolved work from the first plan.
The Foundation
The Local Foods Action Plan Lewiston Auburn is built upon nearly twenty years of previous community driven research, collaboration, and planning efforts, with emphases on neighborhood revitalization, fair and just access to food, and the growth and development of the agricultural and food sector. This work provided a catalyst, as well as, the wisdom, learning, and foundation for the LFAP LA to coalesce.
LEWISTON AUBURN
Lewiston Auburn is the second largest metropolitan area in the State of Maine, with a combined population of just over 60,000 people. LA as it’s sometimes called is also one of the most diverse communities in Maine with residents from more than 30 countries. In addition to being home to several higher education institutions and two major health facilities the region is home to breweries, restaurants, recreational activities along the river, and popular historical landmarks and widely attended annual festivals. The urban core of Auburn and Lewiston is surrounded by expansive farmland with a rich agricultural heritage.