“The Food System Resiliency Council was established in the wake of the COVID-19 disaster, which demonstrated how critical all parts of our food system are to creating resilient communities in Maryland,” said MDEM Secretary Russ Strickland, who also co-chairs FSRC. “There are so many innovative efforts underway in Maryland to improve food production and food access, as well as limiting climate impacts. I’m grateful to the sites today for welcoming the Council members, sharing information, and demonstrating potential solutions to the challenges we face in ensuring no one is left behind in our community.”

The tour will consist of three site visits to locally operated food system-related organizations and provide their stakeholders an opportunity to share what is and what is not working in order to identify gaps within the Maryland food system. The tour will make stops at Compost Outposts (managed by Eco City Farms), Prince George’s County Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park (a collaboration among ECO City Farms, the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District [PGSCD], the Prince George’s Food Equity Council [FEC], and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission [M-NCPPC] Parks and Recreation Department), and Purple Mountain Grown (operated by farmers Nazirahk Amen and Amanda Heinbaugh [and family!] with an intent to support local food sustainability through regenerative practices).

The driving goals of the FSRC are:

• Address the food insecurity crisis in the State resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis.
• Develop equity and sustainability policy recommendations to increase the long-term resiliency of the food system.
• Expand the impact of existing food council organizations.
• Develop a strategic plan to increase the production and procurement of Maryland certified food.

You can find more information by visiting the following websites:

mdem.maryland.gov/Pages/md-fsrc.aspx 
pgscd.org/urban-agricultural-conservation/urban-farm-incubator/ 
purplemountaingrown.com/
compostcrew.com/compost-outposts-eco-city-farms/