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Planning Support

Planning Support

The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems is available in a supportive role to help you develop a Sustainable Food Cluster action plan in your county or region.

We work under the assumption that every food shed is unique. Our goal is to provide knowledge and resources that leverage your infrastructure, programs and research to get you where you need to be. 

Here are some of the ways we can help:

  • Assist in assembling an inclusive, committed, action planning & implementation team based on a knowledge and skills matrix.
  • Work with the team to develop a planning process and to identify planning elements that leverage existing infrastructure, programs and initiatives.

  • Provide open access database space for hosting, viewing and interacting with information related to creating the action plan.
  • Provide multi-media tools to engage a broader group of food stakeholders to ensure everyone can participate.
  • Facilitate action planning team and public meetings to ensure the best possible synergy among participants and the best possible comprehensive plan. 
  • Collect necessary information to help the planning team make informed decisions on the direction of the action plan.

  • Coordinate conversations among Sustainable Food Clusters to optimize distribution between the clusters and beyond the SWO region, and to identify the optimum location and size of regional scale-networked processing/storage facilities when it makes sense to do so.

  • Prepare final Action Plans and subsequent Business Plans for new production, processing, storage and logistics.
  • Identify and assist in obtaining traditional and non-traditional funding for infrastructure.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” ~ Abraham Lincoln