UNDERSTANDING CURRENT REALITY
SaLT came into being from months of dialogue, prompted by one question, “What could it look like to prioritize collaborative resilience in the face of a shifting physical, cultural and social environment in Gloucester?” A passionate stakeholder group has worked diligently to answer that question. We maintain the firm belief that the urgency of a hyperlocal, hyperconnected food system trumps any infrastructure that stands in the way of that potential.
In Gloucester and Cape Ann, events and circumstances have unfolded over generations getting us to where we are today. Most of us see where we are today through our own lens, constructed by the grains of our own experiences. SaLT, as a primary ingredient of our work, seeks to peek through the myriad lenses that make up our community.
photo credit: USA Today
SaLT aims to reconnect people to place and heighten a sense of belonging. To thrive in a city with a year-round, multi-traditional public market that prioritizes local food-related businesses. A city raising up the next generation of fishers and farmers. A collaborative that educates people about what is in season when, why, and by whom, as well as how to prepare foods they may never have heard of, seen, or worked with before.
​
To nurture the conditions for a community to shift the way it does food is no small undertaking. To know where we are going, we must deeply understand where we have been and we are now.
That requires real dialogue, deep dedication, and
courage at scale.