Cars, trucks, and buses are the largest and fastest-growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, states are struggling to maintain public transit infrastructure, highways, and bridges in the face of scant funding and skyrocketing costs. These problems, though far-reaching, have solutions, though finding them will take investment, political will, and tenacity.
Launched last year, CLF’s Legal Services Food Hub matches farmers, food entrepreneurs, and community organizations with free legal assistance. “Many farmers and food entrepreneurs struggle to overcome the high legal fees associated with running a food-based business,” says CLF Legal Fellow Elena Mihaly, who coordinated the Hub.
“New Englanders living in low-income and communities of color are more deeply impacted by our current environmental challenges than society at large,” says Veronica Eady. That’s why CLF, in collaboration with community groups and residents in environmental justice communities, is working to reduce the environmental hazards that threaten public health across New England.
While it does not replace good legal counsel, this Guide sets a framework to help entrepreneurs understand how different business structures can impact their criteria and goals. Though we initially intended to create a guide specifically for local food enterprises, the information and themes proved to be universal, and so we offer this industry agnostic guide.
Hitting Its Stride: The Transformation of Our Energy System is Reaching its Tipping Point… Clean Solutions for Dirty Water: Stopping Nutrient Pollution from Laying Waste to Our Waterways… Pioneering Ocean Planning: Making Room for All the Fish (and More) in the Sea…Funding on the Move: Solving New England’s Transportation Puzzle… A Model Investment: Building Healthy Communities One Neighborhood at a Time
This report contributes to efforts across New England to promote a more regionally focused, healthier, economically vibrant, resilient, just and environmentally sustainable food system for New England.
Created to inform and enhance state- and regional-level discussions about food hub placement and food system development, the models and information provided in this analysis can help food entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers frame their decisions on the placement, design, and support for food hubs in underserved areas of New England.
Elena is the Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. She focuses on developing and implementing law and policy solutions to protect public health, hold polluters accountable, fight climate change, enhance community climate preparedness, and ensure all communities have equal access to a clean and healthy environment. Elena has been with CLF since 2013, first… Continue reading Elena Mihaly
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) have created a $30 million private equity fund model that will consider the community, environmental, and health benefits of a proposed project as well as the financial risks and returns. The model, known as the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund (HNEF), will result in investments that have the potential to transform neighborhoods, strengthen population and environmental health, and promote regional equity − while providing investors with financial and social returns.
Ocean Habitat Protection: For the Sake of Cod & Country… Enforcing Water Quality Standards Across New England… Out with the Old, in with the New: New England is a critical moment in energy transformation… Sustainable Agriculture: Sustainable Food: Growth and Innovation
