Author: Chelsea Blanchette with contributions from Sheriff Aliu, Patrick Buar, and Rose Jennings

January 22, 2026

The annual Rhode Island (RI) Food Systems Summit took place this past week. Over 100 community members from keystone food and agriculture organizations gathered to share experiences from the past year and join forces to identify key strategies for the progression of Rhode Island’s food systems. Participants convened at the University of Rhode Island for a full day event, with a unified theme of Meeting the Moment, to address challenges and next steps for the local food economy. The event promoted cross-sector communication and network building, with a focus on sustainability, equity, and justice. The vibrant energy of the event, seen most prominently at the farm-to-campus networking lunch, affirmed the RI community’s commitment to the development of a stronger, more resilient, local food system. 

The University of Rhode Island JUST GROW research team had the honor of hosting a workshop at the event. The focus of the workshop was to highlight what measuring and moving towards equity in urban agriculture governance could truly look like. Thirty community members across government, non-profit, farming and academic sectors gathered to discuss visions of equity in urban agriculture for RI. Three major topics were highlighted in the discussion: fostering inclusive and participatory governance, redistributing power and ownership, and building just and accessible food economies. The session revolved around a group discussion of these main concerns and solutions, where participants were able to share and learn from one another. 

The workshops’ group discussion with a broad cross-section of folks active in the local food community allowed for the strengthening of key mechanisms researchers aim to centralize, the co-design and co-creation of how to measure change in local urban agriculture governance. With many highly involved community members engaged in the conversation, knowledge was shared on past initiatives and existing policies that can be built upon moving forward. Specifically, participants spoke of the green space goals outlined in annual Providence City Plans and the 2014 Lots of Hope Assessment that conducted surveys across the city to identify viable garden spaces. Additionally, the brainstorming session included uncharted, innovative strategies to drive change including home garden tax relief and long-term lease agreements for community gardens.

On a community level, it was recommended to create onboarding programs for existing urban agriculture projects to further educate community members of the current laws and incentives to grow food, as well as raise awareness on the importance of participating in local policy meetings. A few novel ideas emerged, like creating local television and radio advertisements to further educate and engage community members in the local food scene and to gain traction on policy updates. Participants were thoughtful and caring of one another’s personal experiences with the current local governance system throughout the discussion, which created a dynamic setting of collaborative understanding and eagerness to develop policy that will enhance equitable, local urban agriculture intensification. 

Other focal points of the Food Systems Summit included discussions on current community food access and food security projects, initiatives to strengthen the local supply chain, and Rhode Island’s food strategy goals for 2030 and onward. The RI Food Systems Summit was brimming with passion and understanding of the challenges Rhode Island faces to create an equitable and sustainable food-secure future. Through continued cross-sector knowledge and wisdom sharing, Rhode Island agricultural professionals are committed to the expansion of local, nourishing food availability across the state. 

The URI JUST GROW hub is excited to be part of such a vibrant and active state wide community, with the shared goal of developing a more sustainable and equitable local food system. Building on the momentum of the RI Food Systems Summit, we have scheduled a follow-up community workshop to continue the conversation on how best to measure and track equity in urban agriculture intensification for early February 2026. Interested stakeholders are encouraged to reach out for more information. 

Just Grow Workshop held at the annual RI Food Systems Summit January 13, 2026. Participants discussed visions of equity in UA, sharing knowledge to co-design visions of equity together.