NEW ENTRYSUSTAINABLEFARMING PROJECT

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W W W . N E S F P . O R G

THE YEAROF CHANGEWho could have imagined that 2020 would bring suchinstability and heartache to our world? It is easy to lose hope,yet New Entry instead choose to be of service and leverageour resources to confront the weaknesses and inequities inthe food system and double down on our mission to improveaccess to local and regional food. Our foundational work infarmer training and support continued in earnest. Wedoubled the number of incubator farmers at Moraine Farm,transitioned our programming online and reached more newfarmers across the regional remotely. Our Food Hubexpanded the CSA and launched new collaborations with ourfood access partners to bring weekly deliveries of fruits andvegetables to those most in need. Our national programssupported farmer training organizations to share COVID-19adaptation strategies and our annual FIELD School virtuallyreached over 250 participants. And we accomplished so muchmore.

I am proud of our collective good work at New Entry, but wecan and must do more. This year presented opportunities to advance our mission beyond what we could have imaginedand now we must prioritize, continue to strengthenpartnerships, and increase our capacity to create aneconomically, environmentally, socially sustainable, andracially equitable system of agriculture and food productionthat relies on local resources and serves local markets andconsumers. To achieve true food systems transformation, weneed everyone to participate - if you eat, you have a role toplay. We invite you to join us in this endeavor - as we look to2021- get involved with New Entry, we are counting on you!

J E N N I F E R H A S H L E Y

Executive Director

This year, despite thephysical distancingrequirements we all faced,the Farmer TrainingProgram had the mostrobust year yet, with over137 individualsparticipating in ourprogramming. Our farmteam also grew and soldover $25,000 of CertifiedOrganic produce!

Through our network, we supported dozens ofproducers with informationand access to COVID-19relief and grant programs. To help us support thefarm community, the teamwelcomed a TischFriedman GraduateSummer Fellow in FarmerTraining / FieldProduction, and wecurrently have fouradditional graduatestudents engaged ininternships to supportfarmer training efforts.

It is clear that there is moreneed and thankfully, moreinterest than ever inbuilding a more sustainablefood system, and we areexcited to continue our mission of providingtraining, education, andsupport for our extendedfarm community!

New Entry led 4 focus groups relatedto Farmer Social Sustainability withover 30 participants for dairy,livestock, fruits and vegetables.The team was the lead-organizer for 3focus groups on Collaborative FarmLabor Models at NOFA Mass Winterconference and led 2 online focusgroups with 20 participants.Served as the co-lead for the GREWProject, an online evaluation resourcelibrary with tools, webinars androbust learning communities!

The team worked tirelesslythis year to host andparticipate in national andregional trainings for thefarming community. Tobetter understand the needsand status of our national networks, we are updatingour census of the 300+beginning farmer trainingprograms in the New Entrydatabase so we can continueto provide hyper-relevantsupport and training forfarm service providers. Wealso plan to host the first ina series of farm mentortrainings in partnershipwith University ofMaryland's Institute forApplied Agriculture andUMD Extension in January2021.

As part of our quest toprovide ongoing training, wekicked off a New MentorTraining Toolkit incollaboration with 5authors, featuring 21 casestudies of ApprenticeshipTraining programs. We alsoran 5 National webinarscovering topics fromCOVID-19 safety andresources for trainingprograms; app-basedrecordkeeping for incubatorfarms; and communicationstyles for positive farmapprenticeships.

Kicked off a new 3-year Northeast SARE Regional Mentor Trainingproject with 10 partners across the Northeast.Participated in Anti-Racism meetings for Farmer Training Programs.Hosted 22 participants from 16 organizations for a 3-day strategicplanning session to map the future of our National Networks.Our national programs are now the FIELD Network, consisting of aleadership team of 8 organizations and 3 working groups.Held our 2020 National FIELD School in November, consisting of 12virtual workshops and discussion sessions which were attended by246 unique participants.

NATIONAL &REGIONAL PROGRAMHIGHLIGHTS

This year, we had severalnew initiatives that expandedour reach to provide freshand local food throughoutthe community. We werethrilled to parter with BostonArea Gleaners as a USDAFarm-to-Families Food Boxprogram! Through thisprogram, we packed 7,067individual family boxes anddelivered 10,019 boxes over24 weeks, totaling over300,000 lbs of produce.

New Entry also launched new Farm-to-Schoolpartnerships with SalemPublic Schools and EssexNorth Shore Agricultural andTechnical High School toimprove local procurementand build farm connections in K-12's. With our biggestCSA program to-date, wewere able to purchase$97,400 from 20 beginningand immigrant farmers, $16,989 from other local/regional producers, and$10,000 of produce grown atNew Entry. Additional cropswere contributed by theBoston Area Gleaners fooddonation program!

We could not haveaccomplished all of thiswithout YOUR support. Wehad over 1,000 volunteerhours and 40+ volunteers tosupport share packing anddistribution logistics. A hugeTHANK YOU to all of you!

MA Executive Office of Energyand Environmental Affairs for$163,000 Food SecurityInfrastructure Grant USDA Local Food PromotionProgram for a 3-year, $500,000 Promotion Program grant toextend shelf-stable/frozen foodto seniors for 10 weeksAll of our supporters, forexceeding our $5,000 goal at ourfirst-ever CrowdfundingCampaign to support COVID-relief, raising $ 6,508

MANY THANKS TO:

NEW ENTRY FOODHUB

131 full 20-week program shares58 10-week Summer shares35 10-week Fall shares 7 SNAP-HIP CSA shares128 customers for the new CSAYour Way Program44 Farmers' Choice WinterHoliday Boxes sold 25 COVID-Relief and SolidarityBoxes sold

CSA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

3,656 bags during 16-weeksenior shares 2,000 5-lb bags to BuildingAudacity's Food Access sites 150 5-lb bags to NativeAmericans Lifeline More than 500 lbs to localfood pantries! Supported 473 seniors throughSomerville Cambridge ElderServices

Fresh Produce Provided tothe Community

We are hiring a new Incubator Farm Manager, and consideringadding a seasonal farm assistant manager position, apply today! We are launching our strategic business planning efforts for the next3+ years -evaluating programs, processes, funding, and timelines.We are developing additional faculty research collaborations,student engagement and course development with Tufts to integrateNew Entry and Tufts' academic programs.New Entry plans to host a new 2-week Pre-College course in Summer2021 called "The Future of Food." With a new partnership with Root, a youth culinary trainingprogram in Salem, MA dedicated to preparing value-added productswith New Entry grown produce, we look forward to collaborating onRoots' senior meals program this Winter and beyond.New Entry continues to center racial equity and make steps towardbecoming an anti-racist/multi-cultural institution.We are leasing our hydroponic equipment to two entities to develop

We intend to expand our farm-to-school collaborations andpartnerships to other schools and institutions.By developing a business model to serve the need AND financialsupport of new/beginning farmers with crop purchases, we are ableto support local food security and farm economic viability. There are plans for a series of educational programs to supportfarmers to better connect with technology, and hope to partner withtech companies for on-site experimentation and research initiatives.We will continue to expand and grow our national FIELD Network;seeking multi-year funding, expand partnerships/stakeholders, andcollaborate on systems change initiatives.

We have so much to be grateful for, and many new initiatives andmission-focused partnerships to nurture as we look forward to 2021:

a collaborative hydroponics education and food access programs.

We invite you to JOIN us in these efforts. Sign up to Volunteer or makea GIFT to support our work. Together, let's make 2021 a success!

LOOKING AHEADTO 2021 ANDBEYOND