Sharing ideas and hopes at an intensive, three-day conference was an emotional and rewarding experience. It is not easy to summarize what we learned from "Sustainable food and farming in the Connecticut River Valley: A vision." Nor is it a simple task to present in report form the information and ideas we came up with. Certainly the energy generated and the commitment expressed cannot be captured here.
We learned much from each other. One of the most important outcomes of the conference is that we realized that no matter how diverse our backgrounds, we have much in common. We share a concern for the future of farming, an understanding of the necessity to plan ahead, a strong sense of community and a commitment to doing whatever we can to ensure a healthy future for Valley farming and food systems.
"Sustainable food and farming in the Connecticut River Valley: A Vision" was designed to mobilize people who were invested in various elements of the whole system. That stakeholders committed to three days of planning at this conference is in itself a measure of the importance of the issue.
A Future Search conference was a new experience for most of us. The outcomes exceeded our hopes, and in some ways, our achievements surprised many participants. The messages that we heard and created were clear. The optimism, the sense of community, the common goals were eloquently, intelligently, insightfully expressed. We can be proud of our commitment and of ourselves.
Thank you.