eXtension is pleased to announce the formal launch of the Community, Local & Regional Food Systems (CLRFS) Community of Practice.
This resource is designed to provide information and networking opportunities for educators, community-based practitioners, policy makers, farmers/growers, families, and those individuals involved in building equitable, health-promoting, resilient, and economically balanced food systems. The community of practice 1) creates new content; 2) compiles and summarizes information published by member organizations; 3) and has as a goal to offer a unique, online meeting place for diverse groups and interests to share information and learn from one another. CLRFS resources you can use and contribute to:
· Feature and Resource articles on a number of relevant topics pertaining to local, regional, and community food systems.
· Links highlighting issues pertaining to local, regional, and community food systems.
· CLRFS frequently asked questions through eXtension’s “Ask the Expert”
· CLFRS webinar series
· Meet the CLRFS members through eXtension’s “Expert Bios”
· Social media, including Facebook and an eCoP listserv (local-foods@lists.extension.org)
This launch coincides with the publishing of our first series of articles for our winter “call for articles!” Each new CLRFS article is posted to the eXtension.org site.
Many thanks to the authors for their contributions on such topics as wholesale markets for local foods, urban agriculture, food security, local food business models, and much more! And a big thank you goes to our editorial team for their work in publishing the materials: Phil D’Adamo-Damery (Virginia Tech), Jill Clark (The Ohio State University), Cole Ehmke (University of Wyoming), Joanna Lelekacs (NC Cooperative Extension), and Kim Niewolny (Virginia Tech). We are now accepting new articles on a rolling basis. Please visit the CLRFS site for more information about submitting an article. You may also find guidelines on writing Feature and Resource articles here: http://create.extension.org/node/98520