Farm to Plate Strategic Plan 2010-2020

Image
Executive summary cover image

During the 2009 legislative session, two member-based public policy organizations, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and Rural Vermont, and a number of state legislators (including Representatives Chris Bray, Will Stevens, Carolyn Partridge, Shap Smith, Bill Botzow, Martha Heath and Senators Vince Illuzzi, Sara Kittell, Susan Barlett and Peter Shumlin) crafted and helped win legislative approval for the creation of a Farm to Plate Investment Program (F2P). It was approved by the Senate and House in May 2009 and signed by Governor Douglas, as Sec. 35. 10 V.S.A. chapter 15A § 330. The legislation tasked the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF), in consultation with the Vermont Sustainable Agriculture Council (SAC), with crafting a strategic plan based on a broad scope of work. The primary goals of the legislation were to:

1. Increase economic development in Vermont’s food and farm sector.

2. Create jobs in the food and farm economy.

3. Improve access to healthy local foods.

Building on what former Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) Secretary Roger Allbee calls a “renaissance in Vermont agriculture,” VSJF coordinated an 18-month statewide public engagement process to craft a 10-year strategic plan for food system development to achieve these legislated goals. The first F2P Strategic Plan encompasses all types and scales of agricultural-related production and processing, from small-scale diversified production to commodity dairy production, from on-farm processing to commercial scale food manufacturing. The Plan includes four chapters and an appedices, which cover a general overview, goals and indicators, analysis of the food system from farm inputs through the supply chain to consumer demand and nutrient management, and cross-cutting issues that impact the whole food system, including food insecurity, education, workforce development, technical assistance and business planning financing, energy, regulation.

Resources in this collection

Chapter 2: Goals & Indicators

Chapter 2 covers Goals and Indicators of the Original Farm to Plate Plan.

Chapter 3: Analysis of Vermont's Food System

The sections of 3.2: Farm Inputs describe a variety of programs for conserving land, expanding access to land (e.g., conservation easement programs, cooperative land management arrangements, and farm incubator programs)...
The dairy section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
The eggs section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
The hard cider, spirits, and wine section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
The honey section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
The hops and beer section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
The Livestock section of Chapter 3 Section 3, which includes beef, sheep and goats, hogs, and poultry.
The maple section of Chapter 3 Section 3.
This section of Chapter 3 highlights the ways Vermont businesses are developing processing facilities and the challenges they are facing.
This section explores quest such as what infrastructure will be needed to achieve the goals of Act 148, what kinds of management options and incentives are available to farms that...
This section explores renewed consumer interest in local food in the context of a global industrial food system. This section describes where our food comes from and where people buy...
The components of Vermont’s food system are explored in depth over the course of seven sections in Chapter 3. Each section focuses on current conditions, analyzes gaps and barriers to...

Chapter 4: Crosscutting Issues

This section focuses on 3 types of food security strategies: (1) supplemental assistance programs (often federally or state funded) to increase the consistency and nutritional quality of meals accessed by...
This section summarizes the range of educational opportunities—from preschool to college and beyond—that Vermonters can experience relating to food systems.
This section summarizes the range of business planning and technical assistance services currently available, identifies service gaps and needs, and makes recommendations for how the field can continue to make...
This section reviews the wide variety of financing options available to assist with the capital needs of Vermont’s startup, growth stage, and mature food system enterprises.
This section explores the intersection of energy systems and food systems, which is fertile ground for developing sustainable solutions to pressing problems.
This section identifies the resources needed to increase the ability of food producers and processors to grow their businesses in compliance with existing regulations, laws, and policies.

Farm to Plate Strategic Plan 2010-2020 Appendices

Appendix A provides the enabling legislation that instructed VSJF to create a strategic plan for agricultural economic development by gathering existing data, studies, and analysis about the components of Vermont’s...
Appendix C: Connecting the Dots focuses on the distribution chain that links farm production, processing, and market outlets and provides strategies for aligning these elements of Vermont’s food system more...