Vermont Launches Local Food Initiative

Walk through the farmer’s market in Marbleworks on Saturday morning or drive down Weybridge Street past the edge of campus, and it is easy to see that Middlebury College is nestled in a community where food and the land are integral parts of daily life. From dorm room windows, students see pastoral landscapes of farms and mountains in every direction. One could buy into the notion that Vermonters never go hungry because everyone must subsist on kale and carrots grown from their own gardens. However, this romantic concept is not the reality of food security in Vermont.

As the state with the highest number of farmer’s markets per capita, Vermont has a well-developed local food system compared to other parts of the United States. However, “Local Food for Healthy Communities,” a new report from the Vermont Community Foundation, found that 13 percent of Vermont families struggle to put food on the table, one in five children will suffer from hunger in their lifetime and two thirds of adults are obese.

The Vermont Community Foundation sees these statistics as an opportunity for growth and their Food and Farm Initiative is working to end food insecurity and increase overall public health throughout the state.

“The Vermont Community Foundation’s Food and Farm Initiative works at the nexus of hunger, health, and the state’s agricultural tradition to connect all Vermont families with healthy, local food-regardless of where they live, what they earn, or how much time they spend cooking,” said Emily Jacke, the Vermont Community Foundation’s Philanthropy Associate.

The common misconception is that the burgeoning local food movement is reaching all Vermonters.

“More and more local food is becoming a part of [our] cultural fabric, but there are a lot of people getting left behind,”  Jen Peterson, Vice President for Program and Grants at VCF, said. “We see our Food and Farm Initiative as a place to champion the efforts to address food security while we are having this thriving local food movement in Vermont.”

Over 40 percent of children in Vermont qualify for free and reduced cost meals. The VCF’s Food and Farm Initiative will begin in Vermont public schools by giving intensive support to Farm-to-School efforts.

“We want to create a system where every kid who wants a healthy meal can get one,” Peterson said.

By focusing on educating children about local food, VCF believes that the movement will have a systemic impact. Not only will feeding young children healthier food help them create lifelong healthy eating habits, but kids will take what they learn about local food home to their families.

Richard Berkfeld of Food Connects, an organization that brings healthy, local food to classrooms and communities, states that farm to school models are key to creating food system change.

“Building a good Local food system touches on a lot of issues really big now,” he said. “The environment and climate change, eating fresh, local food has a big impact on our health and the local economy… these are all tied together by Farm-to-School.”

The Vermont Community Foundation has found that most Vermonters want to make healthier choices for their families. Berkfeld knows that this will help the movement progress more efficiently.

“We are lucky so many people care about local food,” he said.

However, there are common barriers that get in the way of families choosing to buy local food. Low-income families view the cost of healthy food as a big issue and for many in rural areas there is not a grocery store close by. The Food and Farm Initiative will focus on creating policy that promotes accessibility and builds farmer’s markets that are more professional and reachable. Additionally, the Foundation believes that expanding Farm-to-School programs will help them reach the majority of Vermonters currently without access to healthy food.

Another key part of the initial plans for Food and Farm is a meat processing facility in Middlebury, which will help to distribute local meat to schools. Many members of the Middlebury College community are excited to see the town get involved in this progressive initiative.

Robin Weisselberg ’16.5, a Campus Sustainability Coordinator and an active member of EatReal, a club at the College, said, “Eating local foods is a great way to begin developing an awareness of where your food comes from, how it is produced, how it is processed, and who did all of that work so that you could nourish yourself today.”

Maeve Grady ’16.5, an active member of the Divest Midd movement and the Socially Responsible Investment club on campus is also in support of the movement.

“One great thing about the local food movement is that it combines environmental activism, awareness of nutritional health and food security,” he said. “I am excited to see this effort begin in our community.”

The Vermont Community Foundation’s goal is to create a “fair and just local food system,” Peterson said.

As connected as most Vermonters are to one another and to the land around them, it is no surprise that the solution to a community issue as deep rooted as food insecurity lies at the intersection of philanthropy, healthy eating and taking care of the planet.