Share the love, share the harvest

Author: Hannah Wilson

In true Vermont fashion, on the first Thursday in October, restaurants, co-ops and stores around Vermont donated some of their sales to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA). NOFA uses the money collected from Share the Harvest to help fund its Farm Share Program, which assists limited-income Vermonters in buying shares in Community Supported Agriculture (CFA) to help create a stable pattern of nutrition for the residents and a stable client base for the local farms.

This year, 86 Vermont restaurants, co-ops and stores participated in Share the Harvest, including four restaurants in Middlebury - American Flatbread, the Middlebury Co-op, Green Peppers and Fire and Ice. The restaurants pledged to donate a percentage of the money they made on Oct. 4 to Share the Harvest. In 2006, Share the Harvest raised over $9,500, with 73 participants. Generally, somewhere between 75-100 businesses participate in the event. In exchange for their participation, the businesses receive publicity from Share the Harvest.

"We have been participating since the beginning, almost a dozen years now, and always see an increase of 25 to 30 percent in sales on Share the Harvest," said Mark Perrin, manager of Green Peppers. "The fact that they publicize for us helps get the word out. We also see a lot of regular customers become more educated about the Farm Share Program. The program emphasizes neighbors helping neighbors and as a whole supports our business philosophy."

"Planning the event is pretty smooth sailing," said Becca Weiss, Share the Harvest coordinator. "Share the Harvest is such a positive event that everyone is really into participating." This was Weiss' fifth year planning the event. She started planning the event in the spring by soliciting restaurants, creating a publicity list and sending out materials for the restaurants to promote the event.

"There are two categories of restaurants," said Weiss, "those that have been participating for over 10 years, who are very into it and whenever I call them they say 'Great! Okay!' and then every year I try to solicit new natural food restaurants and co-ops around Vermont. The new ones, after I explain Share the Harvest, always think it's a great idea, but may not always be able to participate due to economic constraints."

In Addison County, there are four CFAs - the Arcadia Brook Farm, Champlain Orchards, Inc. Golden Russet Farm and New Leaf Organics. With these shares, families are then given access to the produce farmed locally for an entire season.

Since its inception in 1994 the program has expanded from only three farms and a dozen families to its current support of 20 farms and over 100 families. Weiss noted that over 1,000 individuals will benefit from Share the Harvest this year, including a mix of teens, children and seniors.

Participants begin receiving the produce in late June and the program continues through until the end of the fall harvest season in late October. The CFA program helps benefit both the local agriculture economy and provides the citizens of Vermont with better quality food.

"[Share the Harvest] is one of the most positive events we put on," said Weiss. "I call it a win-win-win situation. Of course, it benefits the limited-income Vermonters, [and] it benefits the farms. They then can count on a certain number of shares per year and NOFA can help them plan their harvest, and it benefits NOFA by getting the ideas of NOFA out into the community."

The effect on the local community is one of the reasons why Fire and Ice participated this year.

"Share the Harvest caught our eye," said Cynthia Smith, owner of Fire and Ice, "it seemed very Vermont, very local and goes to the heart of the eat local, eat seasonal message that we are trying to support. It seemed like a unique, different fundraiser and we could see that all the funds were going to make a tangible difference."

This message seems to be at the heart of Share the Harvest, which helped make the fundraising event that much more successful.