Does Franklin County, Massachusetts, have the land resources needed to achieve complete food self-sufficiency—to sustainably produce all of the food needed to feed its population? If such food independence is not achievable in the near future, how might a model of increased food self-reliance—with expanded local food production for local consumption and for the regional market—improve the community’s resilience and strengthen relationships that would benefit the residents of the county and of the larger region? These are the questions the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), working with a consortium of governmental and non-profit organizations, asked the Conway School to help it address. For this Conway School report the approach of an innovative foodshed analysis currently being developed by Brandeis University Professor Dr. Brian Donahue—the New England Food Vision—was adapted to help overcome the lack of Franklin County-specific data.
