“You don’t make friends in a disaster, it’s our relationships that hold us through the good times and bad.”
Why build a network?
When people think about food systems their minds may automatically go to the things they can see – the markets, refrigerated trucks, and processing centers that get food from the farm to the customer’s table. These things, and more, make up the physical infrastructure of a network and are critical to operations.
But there is another piece that is often overlooked.
Social infrastructure refers to the collaborative partnerships and trusted relationships that exist among people and groups within a network. Social Infrastructure is difficult to measure and so is often undervalued and underinvested in. But, research shows, that investments in physical infrastructure without proper attention to social infrastructure can undermine efforts to build more resilient food systems. Networks and community connections can also be an enabling pre-condition of successful community economic development initiatives and have an impact on outcomes when disaster strikes.
Simply said, by working together we can better identify issues, mobilize resources, and solve problems in our region.
Coming Together
The need for a Northeast Ohio Food and Farm Coalition, and continued gatherings, was realized at the April 2025 ‘Regional Resilience’ event that was organized and co-hosted by members of the The Northeast Ohio Ag Innovation Center (NEO-AIC), Forest City Food Collective (formerly Oberlin Food Hub), and The Fare Project.
Members of these organizations (and more!) help to coordinate the emerging organization.
There is currently no formal membership structure to the coalition. Anyone working in Northeast Ohio’s farm and food systems in the private, non-profit, or policy sectors who is interested in connecting and collaborating with others to build a more resilient region is invited to get involved by joining the mailing list and future networking events.
If you have ideas, or would like to know more, please email neoregionalresilience@gmail.com