Nourish Nantucket and Sustainable Nantucket Partner to Lead CARAT Assessment for Nantucket County
What happens on Nantucket if the harbor freezes over and ferries cannot run for days on end? To help answer this question and create a solid food system plan for Nantucket, Nourish Nantucket and Sustainable Nantucket are leading the 2026 Community and Agriculture Resilience Audit Tool (CARAT) assessment for Nantucket County.
The CARAT is a nationally recognized, community-engaged tool that helps communities understand how their local food systems function, from food production and distribution to access, coordination, and resilience during disruption. For Nantucket, the assessment will establish a baseline measure of food system resilience, creating a shared framework the community can revisit to track progress, identify gaps, and guide future planning and investment as part of the Southeastern Massachusetts Food System Assessment, a regional initiative coordinated by the Marion Institute.
The Marion Institute is facilitating the process across Southeastern Massachusetts. On Nantucket, Nourish Nantucket and Sustainable Nantucket are coordinating the work locally, bringing together complementary expertise in food security, sustainability, and community engagement, with financial support from Remain Nantucket. Posie Constable of Sustainable Nantucket has played a key role in initiating the island’s participation in the regional assessment. “As an island community, our vulnerabilities are many, but none as important as access to food. The CARAT analysis will allow us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Nantucket’s food supply chain and devise solutions in a way that preserve our environmental resources and provide nutritious food for all.”
A central component of the CARAT process is broad community participation. The partners have begun convening a Community Advisory Board made up of local food system stakeholders, including farmers and fishers, grocers, food distributors, nonprofit organizations, town department heads, and food access providers. The CARAT assessment is underway every other Wednesday morning virtually. Participation in CARAT is open to anyone; any interested community members are encouraged to reach out to either organization or email Ashley@nourishnantucket.org for the virtual link. A small stipend is available for participants who have lived food insecurity experience.
Through the CARAT assessment, Nantucket aims to strengthen coordination across its food system, identify opportunities to improve resilience and food access, and align local efforts with regional food system planning across Southeastern Massachusetts.
