New England Food Businesses Invited to Join 2025 Local Food Count

Regional campaign invites retailers, grocers, institutions, distributors, food hubs, and restaurants to help strengthen local food systems by tracking local food purchasing and sales. 

MONTPELIER, VT – Food and beverage establishments and organizations across New England are invited to participate in the upcoming 2025 Local Food Count, a regional effort to measure how much local food they buy and sell within the six state region. 

The Local Food Count is part of the New England Feeding New England (NEFNE) initiative, which aims to strengthen the region’s food system and increase local food sourcing. By participating, restaurants, schools, distributors, grocers and other food and beverage buyers and sellers headquartered in New England help identify purchasing patterns and uncover opportunities to grow local food procurement across the region. 

“This effort helps us understand our collective impact on the local food economy,” said Leah Rovner, Director of the New England Food System Planners Partnership at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. “It’s a simple way for businesses to contribute to regional food supply availability.” 

Participation is open to food and beverage establishments or organizations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. All data submitted will be kept confidential and used only in aggregate to inform regional planning. 

“We’re excited to see food related entities across our state take part in this effort for the fifth time,” said Jake Claro, Program Director for Vermont Farm to Plate. “Tracking local food purchases helps us identify gaps and opportunities to better support our farmers, food producers and retailers. Through this local food counts process, we’ve seen local food sales grow from $114m (5% of total Vermont food purchases) in 2011 to $481m (10%) in 2022. We’re very curious to learn the results of the Vermont local food sales in 2025 and in the other New England states.” 

Food related establishments are encouraged to take the pledge now to confirm their commitment to the Local Food Count. Pledge materials, prep worksheets, and past results are available online too help participants get ready for data collection. Data collection will begin in January 2026, with results shared later in the year. 

To take the pledge and access materials, visit https://bit.ly/2025LocalFoodCount. 

About The New England Food System Planners Partnership 

The New England Food System Planners Partnership (NEFSPP) is a collaboration between seven state-level food system organizations and representatives from the six-state agricultural, economic and environmental departments in New England. New England Feeding New England (NEFNE) is the Partnership’s primary initiative and aims to have 30 percent of the food produced in New England consumed in the region by 2030. nefoodsystemplanners.org