CANTON -- Canton has been selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative with support for encouraging local food and stimulating downtown businesses.

A team of agricultural, transportation, environmental, public health, and regional economic experts will work directly with Canton’s Sustainability Committee, GardenShare, and other community and business organizations to develop a plan to build an equitable and environmentally sound local food system that will try help downtown revitalization efforts.

“Our community understands the value local food in the local economy, but we haven’t fully reaped the economic benefits we believe should be resulting. We are thrilled to be getting this expert technical assistance and are sure it will help us better tie together the resources we have, identify the major missing pieces, and build a plan to bridge that gap,” said Village Trustee Carol Pynchon, who serves on the Sustainability Committee.

Preliminary planning meetings will be held over the spring and summer, with a culminating workshop with technical assistance experts likely scheduled for early fall 2015.

Canton is one of 26 communities to participate. The 26 Local Foods, Local Places communities were chosen from among 316 applicants.

Local Foods, Local Places is a partnership between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The initiative draws on the Obama Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities, USDA’s Seven Strategies for Economic Development, and other place-based strategies to address regional challenges.

“Our agencies are working together to make a visible difference in communities," said EPA's Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg. "By promoting farmers markets, community kitchens, and other efforts to increase access to healthy food, we are supporting local businesses in struggling downtown neighborhoods and preserving farms and undeveloped land. It’s good for people’s health, good for the economy, and good for the environment.”