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The Green Mountain Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation has awarded a $5,000 grant to Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS) to support the purchase and delivery of local food for the Craftsbury and Albany food share program.

Food Connects continues to grow despite COVID food supply chain disruption, proving the value of local food systems for resiliency and economic recovery.

“Especially during this uncertain time, we hope to reach learners from all backgrounds, whether they are young adults looking to build technical skills or established workers exploring a potential career change. The digital tech economy is the fastest growing industry in this country, and rural workers are underrepresented—we want to change that.”

Food Connects is excited to welcome Michelle Pinter-Petrillo to their team as their new Farm to School Coordinator. Michelle is the third Farm to School team member and will support Farm to School teams in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union, Windham Central Supervisory Union, and Springfield School District.

In the interest of creating equity in our food systems, and our continuing work to incorporate long-silenced voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) farmers and food-producers in our programming, our next Windham Grows cohort will be made up of BIPOC farmers and food entrepreneurs.

Everyone Eats! Brattleboro (EE!B)—a restaurant stimulus and community food program—will continue through the end of 2020 thanks to a $654,210 grant from the state. The program brings nutritional relief, care, and comfort to the community and vital financial support to local restaurants.

Join ShiftMeals for a six-part free webinar series highlighting the intersectional experiences of Womxn and Femmes in all facets of the Vermont food system, from seed to hands. Presented by City Market, A Force To Be Reckoned With honors those most affected by the Covid-19 crisis by bringing together powerful Womxn and Femme farmers, leaders, organizers, and activists. We are creating a space for collaboration, discussion, and visions for a more resilient food system in Vermont.

As National Water Quality Month comes to an end, the Vermont Agricultural Water Quality Partnership (VAWQP) celebrates the progress that has been made in protecting Vermont’s water quality, while looking forward to water quality improvements yet to be accomplished. The leadership of the VAWQP is encouraged by data indicating measurable results in water quality improvement, thanks to farmer efforts and a strong conservation commitment from the partnership.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is standing up a new team that will lead a department-wide effort focused on serving beginning farmers and ranchers.To institutionalize support for beginning farmers and ranchers and to build upon prior agency work, the 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create a national coordinator position in the agency and state-level coordinators for four of its agencies – Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Rural Development (RD).

VFFC’s Farmacy Project, now in its sixth year, has added four new sites in the further areas of the county for pick-up this summer for a total of 6 distribution sites. The Farmacy Project focuses on the intersection of community health and local agriculture with fresh produce grown exclusively by
Rutland farmers given to individuals as “medicine” for chronic diet-related conditions by their healthcare providers.