Our mission is to strengthen the Southcoast's local food economy by making it easier for growers to sell, and consumers to buy, healthy, affordable, local foods. Coastal Foodshed grew out of the work of Mass in Motion New Bedford (MiM NB), which was created through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to affect policy, systems, and environment changes in the areas of healthy eating and active living. MiM NB eventually began creating and managing programs that were filling identified gaps and oftentimes acting as conduits for food access and distribution. In time, MiM NB reached its limit in capacity and found, due to its structure, it was unable to apply for certain funding sources, seek donors, and expand its work to continue meeting the community’s need without veering too far off course from Mass in Motion’s original mission. In 2017, Coastal Foodshed was created as a direct response to this barrier, allowing MiM NB to return fully to its original focus as a policy, systems, and environment change agent.
