The Regional Farm & Food Project is a member-supported, farmer-focused non-profit serving the greater Hudson-Mohawk Valley food shed. Founded in 1996 to promote sustainable agriculture and local food systems, we build supply and demand for farm fresh foods by providing educational programs and information resources for farmers and consumers. While our fiscal year begins April 1^st and ends March 31^st, November marks the end of the growing season and the conclusion of our programs for the calendar year.  It is a time when, in preparation for our annual member meeting, we reflect on the year behind and plan the year ahead.  It is also the time of our annual fundraising appeal, when we ask our supporters to continue to fund our work.  With this, our first annual report, we hope to make the case that money donated to the Regional Farm & Food Project generates exponential benefits for our farms and our communities as it ripples through our local economies and our environment.

Educational Programs
In the past 12 months the Regional Farm & Food Project has produced hands-on experiential workshops, tours, business meetings, networking sessions, lectures and special events attended by more than 1000 people. Click here for details.

Farm & Food Networks
RFFP sponsors two model farm and food business networks:  the Troy Farmers’ Market and the New York State Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild.  The Troy Market is an urban year-round, 50-member, producer-only market generating $1+ million in annual sales and bringing hundreds of shoppers to downtown Troy each week.  The Cheese Guild has 26 cheese maker members representing some of the finest cheeses produced in the Northeast.  Their focus is primarily professional development for small dairies and cheese makers.

Finance
We continue to professionalize RFFP operations.  We are aligning the financial systems of RFFP, the Troy Market and the Cheese Guild to provide a consolidated monthly treasurer’s report.  Currently our finances are consolidated annually on the RFFP tax return (IRS Form 990). We recently decided to enter into an agreement with our accountant, Sue Baer, to take over our bookkeeping.  Our heartfelt thanks to Laurie Williams, a professional bookkeeper who has volunteered her services for the past few years. 

In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, RFFP reported $140,762 in income against $181,899 in expenses.  The $41,137 difference was funded by grant income received the previous fiscal year.  We ended the year with combined net assets of $58,852. 

Membership
In the past, membership has generated about $35,000 per year in income.  Currently, we have approximately 600 contributing members, several hundred of them farmers.  Membership has waned this year and we are working to reconnect with those who have not renewed.

Development
The Regional Farm & Food Project has a development plan that includes cultivating small and large donors, seeking grants for general support, and applying for grants for specific projects.  In the past 12 months we have raised $21,000 in donations from individuals.  We received $4000 for a Bard College Center for Environmental Studies project. We continue to work on Managing High Tunnels, a two-year SARE research grant, and we are concluding Group Mentoring for Beginning Farmers, a SARE partnership grant.  The Troy Market and the Cheese Guild have each previously received New York State grants.

Communications
To promote our programs and encourage community activism, we continue to produce our website, www.farmandfood.org, our monthly radio program, The Farm & Food Show, our printed newsletter, New Connections, and frequent email news broadcasts.

Here is a 12-month summary (November 2004 to October 2005) of our programs, grassroots organizing, outreach, networking, advisory activities and communications, as well as those of our two sponsored organizations, the Troy Farmers’ Market and the NYS Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild.

Educational Programs

Grassroots Organizing
Farm visits, meetings & tours:

• Slaughterhouse at Over the Hill Farm, Benson, VT
• Harrier Fields Farm, Schodack Landing, NY
• Saratoga Apple, Saratoga, NY
• Pleasant Valley Farm, Argyle, NY
• Indian Ladder Farm, Altamont, NY
• Farmer Museum in Cooperstown, NY
• Co-produced Vegetable Grower Network farm tour & potluck at Slack Hollow Farm, Argyle, NY
• Co-produced Vegetable Grower Network farm tour & potluck at Our Farm, Easton, NY
• Sap Bush Hollow Farm, Warnerville, NY
• SUNY Cobleskill campus slaughter facility
• Co-produced Vegetable Grower Network farm tour & potluck at Moses Farms, Eagle Bridge, NY
• Foxhill Farm, Ancramdale, NY
• Co-produced Vegetable Grower Network farm tour & potluck at Windflower Farm, Valley Falls, NY
• McEnroe Organic Farm composting facility, Millerton, NY
• Co-produced Vegetable Grower Network farm tour & potluck at Denison Farm, Schaghticoke NY

Meetings:

• Capital District Vegetable Growers Winter Meeting
• Cornell Organic Production & Marketing Work Team Meeting
• NY Farms! Annual Meeting
• Massachusetts Dept of Agriculture Resources meeting to promote right-to-farm bylaws
• Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture Meeting
• Capital District Community Food Coalition Meetings

Conferences:

• Vermont Grazing Conference, Randolph, VT
• National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
• Northeast States Association for Agriculture Stewardship 2005 Annual Meeting & Rural Leaders Roundtable, Uncasville, CT
• Community Food Security Coalition Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA

Advisory Activities:

• Advised Regional Food Bank on community farm
• Advised board of directors of Friends of Town Farm Dairy, Simsbury, CT on farm viability
• Advised Glynwood Center project on regional food system

RFFP Volunteers:

• Launched RFFP volunteer project compiling a local foods directory for consumers
• Produced RFFP Harvest Dinner
• Hosted RFFP Activist Potluck Dinners
• Organized chefs, farmers, sponsors, artists, musicians & volunteers for Through Farmers’ hands — A Country Prom

Farm & Food Networks

• RFFP Annual Member Meeting, Board Elections & Harvest Dinner
• Troy Farmers’ Market Annual Member Meeting
• NYS Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild 3^rd Annual Member Meeting
• NYS Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild Meet the Cheese Makers Tasting, New York, NY
• RFFP hosted a farm-to-restaurant networking meeting at Sargo’s in Saratoga Springs, NY
• Published RFFP volunteer project — Luscious Local Foods Directory — at www.farmandfood.org
• Joined board of advisors for Dinner Where magazine (Columbia/Berkshire County)

Public Outreach

• NYS Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild presented at Baum Forum, CUNY, New York, NY
• Exhibited at Bethlehem Children’s School Earth Day Fair in Bethlehem, NY
• Quoted on back cover of One United Harvest:  Creative Recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms, a cookbook to benefit CSAs 
• NYS Farmstead & Artisan Cheese Makers Guild presents Cheese Day at Sprout Creek Farm, Poughkeepsie, NY
• Wrote cover story for Women’s Times on community-based food systems
• Gave presentation at Bidwell House Museum, Monterey, MA
• Exhibited at Columbia County Fair New Face of Farming exhibition
• Exhibited at Family Farm Festival, New Palz, NY
• Interviewed on Albany Channel WB45 District Issues TV program
• Presented 8^th annual harvest celebration Through Farmers’ Hands — A Country Prom at Canfield Casino, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Featured speaker at “Everyday Environmentalist” activist potluck dinner in Spencertown, NY
• Produced consumer outreach brochure

Policy Advocacy

• Gave testimony on sustainable agriculture & small farm viability at May 2005 NYS Assembly Public Hearing on “New York State Food & Nutrition Policy”
• Wrote article on regulatory barriers to small farm viability published in Cornell University Small Farms Program Summer 2005 Small Farm Quarterly
• Quoted in Entrepreneurial Farming, a special report published by The Farmland Center, OH
• Wrote Berkshire Trade & Commerce article on benefits of right-to-farm bylaws
• Presented to graduate student seminar on environmental policy at SUNY Albany, NY

Communications

• Published Spring 2005 New Connections newsletter (hardcopy)
• December Farm & Food News (email)
• RFFP Hot Spring News (email)
• RFFP Summer News (email)
• August Farm & Food News (email)
• September Farm & Food News (email)

Produced 12 one-hour Farm & Food Show programs broadcast on WRPI-Troy 91.5fm:

• “Thanksgiving Recipes & Seasonal Poems”
• “Meet Three New Farmers”
• “Preserving the Harvest”
• “Changing Commodity Agriculture”
• “The Growing Season Begins”
• “Where Does Your Food Come From?”
• “Farm & Food Activists”
• “Community-Based Food Systems”
• “Your Ecological Footprint & the Topsoil Crisis”
• “What is Public Policy & Why Does it Matter?” 
• “Producing A Zero Waste Event”
• “What is Food Security?”

Improving the Organization

• Recruited new board members
• Database clean-up & software upgrade
• Developed plan to professionalize organization
• Began upgrade of financial management systems
• Added PayPal to farmandfood.org website

Development & Fundraising

• Year-end appeal mailing (generated $10,000)
• Created development strategy & action plan
• Renewed relationships with previous grantors
• Established relationships with large donors (generated $15,000)
• Launched 100X$1000 Campaign to find 100 donors to contribute $1000 (generated $6,000) 
• Hosted Columbia County outreach & donor development dinner