Growing Together is a sustainable food access and food justice report for Erie and Niagara Counties, located in Western New York State.  Through research and stakeholder engagement, the Food Lab is identifying assets and opportunities within the region’s food system.  In partnership with the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, the Food Lab aims to craft tools that the bi-counties’ many municipalities can use to strengthen:  the viability of food production; access to nutritious, culturally acceptable, and affordable food; and the linkages between food producers and eaters within their communities and the region.

Growing Together is one of five components of the bi-counties’ One Region Forward sustainability plan, which is funded by $2 million from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Partnership for Sustainable Communities Initiative.  One Region Forward focuses on planning sustainably for food access and justice; land use and development; transportation and mobility; housing and neighborhoods; and climate change.   The project is currently in the second year of HUD’s three-year planning grant.

Team members: Jessica Hall (Project Manager), Cristina Delgado, Travis Norton.