Hello local food fans, chefs, professionals, organizers, leaders, journalists, activists and more - 

As part of our mission to increase support for local food and agriculture, Seacoast Eat Local is working to coordinate a state-wide NH Eat Local Week. In coordination with the Department of Agriculture, the date has been set for August 3 - August 9th, to coincide with farmers' market week.

NH Eat Local week will serve to highlight various efforts throughout the state in bringing NH food to NH tables. What we envision is a dispersed effort where individuals, groups, and businesses around the state can plan events, demonstrations, tastings, eat local challenges, special dinners and hang the label "NH Eat Local Week" on them to build upon each others' efforts and garner more interest from the media in such efforts.

What Seacoast Eat Local plans to do:
- With help from Lorraine Merrill, try to obtain a Governor's edict declaring the week NH Eat Local Week with accompanying publicity.
- Create a web space to serve as a clearing house for events, information, publicity, etc. - coordinated space for information about all things NH Eat Local week - see www.nheatlocalweek.org
- Publicity for any and all related events throughout the state - send us your plans and information! (for our own geographic area of the Seacoast we are encouraging folks to take the NH Eat Local Week Challenge (challenge card attached) and will host a barn party potluck at the end of the week in celebration)
- other things put forward as needed/desired to make NH Eat Local Week a success

What we are hoping individuals, departments, associations, groups, etc., around the state will do:
- sign on as official supporters/participants (no cost, all about name and participating groups - ie we had x number groups representing x number NH residents participating). Send an email or sign yourself up using the NH Eat Local Week webite: www.nheatlocalweek.org
- recruit restaurants to serve local foods for the week
- recruit participants for the NH Eat Local Week Challenge - feel free to adapt/adopt/ or use as is the attached challenge card, meant for ideas
- plan and promote events surrounding local foods for the week
- use the week to publicize farmers markets, perhaps hold events at the markets to draw additional publicity and crowds (tomato tastings, cooking demos)
- all ideas welcome!