4.1: Food Security in Vermont
Download 4.1: Food Security (PDF 6MB)
Harvest at Vermont Food Bank farm. Photo: Vermont Food Bank
Hunger (i.e., a painful sensation caused by a lack of food) and food insecurity (i.e., an inability to access enough food to meet basic needs due to financial constraints) are issues of growing concern in this country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service reports that the percentage of food insecure American households increased from 11.9% (over 15 million households) in 1995 to 14.3% (over 17.6 million households) in 2013. The percentage of very low food security households—households where some family members consumed less or eating patterns were disrupted due to limited resources at any time during the previous 12 months—increased from 4.1% (over 4 million households) in 1995 to 5.6% (over 6.8 million households) in 2013.
The percentage of food insecure Vermont households increased from an average of 9.1% (22,000 households) from 1999 to 2001 to an average of 13.2% (34,000 households) from 2011 to 2013.
Strategies for addressing food access generally fall into three categories: (1) supplemental assistance programs (often federally or state funded) to increase the consistency and nutritional quality of meals accessed by vulnerable groups; (2) using the emergency or charitable food system to meet the needs of citizens in crisis by providing food through food shelves and other mechanisms; and (3) community food security projects to focus on building communities’ capacities to feed themselves through job training, food and nutrition education, and infrastructure development.
Leveraging resources to effectively and efficiently reduce food insecurity while continuing to develop Vermont’s food system economy is a formidable—but solvable—task.
The Abenaki Land Link Project wrapped up its first season this fall.
Photo: Abenaki Land Link Project
By Emily Wanzer, Community Food Access Intern at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund The Abenaki Land Link Project, a partnership to grow food for Abenaki citizens between the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Rooted in Vermont, a project of the Vermont Farm to Plate Network and Northeast Organic Farming…
Members of the ShiftMeals team.
Photo: Jennifer Sensenich
By Kate Sadoff ShiftMeals Vermont has an evolving agricultural industry. While it is mainly known for its dairy farms and maple syrup production, many food justice initiatives are popping up and reexamining their work as Vermont hits a 24% food insecurity rate due to the pandemic. I had the opportunity to interview…
Karyl Kent, Lamoille North School District Food Service Director
Photo: Karyl Kent
When schools closed their doors, they had less than a week to completely reimagine their distribution models and keep students fed and nourished (Goal 2). Vermont FEED is honored to share some voices from the frontline school nutrition programs that so many families depend on. Karyl Kent is the Food…
Taylor & Jake Mendell, owners of Footprint Farm in Starksboro
Photo: UVM
Young Farmers in Vermont Met with Challenges and Opportunities By Shane Rogers, Farm to Plate Communications Manager at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund The landscape of farming is changing throughout the country, and Vermont agriculture is by no means an exception. To see this borne out, one only has to look to…
Richard Berkfield, Executive Director of Food Connects, cuts the ribbon on a new cooler and freezer at their distribution hub in Brattleboro.
Photo: High Meadows Fund
Food Connects of Brattleboro, VT delivers locally produced food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming local food systems. Its food hub aggregates and delivers from over 70 local farms and food producers to over 130 buyers in southeast Vermont, southwest New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. With…
2019 Vermont Farm to Plate Annual Report
A Letter from Farm to Plate Director Jake Claro to the Vermont General Assembly and Governor Phil Scott: This year’s Vermont Farm to Plate Annual Report features highlights of key projects from 2019, including grass-fed beef industry development, local planning for food access, wholesale markets, and small-scale on-farm composting. You will also see…
Salvation Farms provides technical assistance to RAFFL's gleaning program at Thomas Dairy with gleaning coordinator Jen preparing the program's weekly distribution with their volunteer delivery driver, farmer and then RAFFL board member, John.
Photo: Salvation Farms
In a state known for its robust agricultural economy, many Vermonters still face serious challenges and barriers to getting food, particularly, fresh, healthy food that is affordable. The new toolkit Local Planning for Food Access aims to help Vermont towns, cities, and regions increase access to food. Released in November…
Story and photography by Erica Houskeeper. Original version appears at Happy Vermont's website. All it takes is flour, butter, salt, and water to make a pie crust. But it takes a community to make a difference. Pies for People, now in its eleventh year, is a community-building initiative that brings together volunteers, gleaned local…
The summer meal site and mobile learning kitchen is reaching more youth than ever before. The Lunchbox food truck is a free summer meal site and mobile learning kitchen operated in partnership by Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS) and the Abbey Food Service Group. The program aims to provide the community with…
By Shane Rogers It’s a safe bet that no matter where one finds themselves in Vermont, they’re not too far away from a Vermont food co-op. Boasting the highest number of stores per capita, Vermont’s 15 food co-ops have established themselves as pillars of their communities along with being drivers of…
Vermont farmers graduate from livestock profitability school Vermont Farm to Plate Network aims to create a cohort of leaders who can serve as models of success in Vermont’s emergent grass-fed beef industry MONTPELIER, VT – This month, 14 Vermont farmers graduated from the leading national livestock profitability school, Ranching for Profit School…
Vermonters Feeding Vermonters purchases fresh, local produce like this to share with people facing hunger.
Photo: Vermont Foodbank
Vermont Foodbank launches Vermonters Feeding Vermonters, a new program to purchase local produce for Vermonters facing hunger This year, the Vermont Foodbank is launching Vermonters Feeding Vermonters (VFV), a brand new program that will purchase high quality fruits and vegetables directly from Vermont growers to distribute to Vermonters facing hunger. Every Vermonter…
By Dominique Giroux, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets Prevention versus reaction. For the produce industry, these words have become the backbone of a federal regulation that shifts the focus of our national food safety system from responding to foodborne illness to preventing it. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)…
Local kids line up for lunch at Roosevelt Park in Burlington
Photo: Hunger Free Vermont
Across Vermont, just over 36,000 school-age children rely on school breakfast and lunch to provide the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. When summer vacation begins, these children are left vulnerable to food insecurity and the resulting consequences. Communities are taking action by offering free meals for kids and…
Coupons and marketing materials for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Coupon Program
Photo: Green Mountain Farm to School
The Newport-based non-profit, Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS), in partnership with the national non-profit, Wholesome Wave, is making fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to low-income residents of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Coupon Program. This innovative approach to food access offers all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…
Johnson State College Staff at Peaslee’s Potatoes in Guildhall, VT
Photo: NOFA-VT
Strategies and Opportunities for Greater Local Food Procurement in Vermont Higher Education Food Service Written by Jennie Porter Institutions represent a unique opportunity in Vermont to increase access to local foods because they serve many meals a day to a wide range of people, and they can help to increase consumer awareness…
Meat processing in Vermont
Photo: Over the Hill Farm
Gathering the Herd: A Vermont Meat Processing Case Study captures lessons learned over a three year period from the Farm to Plate Meat Processing Task Force through interviews conducted by Carrie Abels with members of the task force and industry leaders. The Meat Processing Task Force within the Farm to Plate…
Kale harvest at Good Heart Farmstead in Worcester, Vermont
Photo: Good Heart Farnstead
Written by Kate Spring In 2013, writer Kate Spring and her husband started Good Heart Farmstead with the mission to make local food more accessible. Not only did they aspire to make it easier for people to find local food, but they wanted to make it easier for them to afford…
Take 5 is a series of 12 local food sourcing and merchandising training videos for Vermont retail stores to help increase local food sales. The Farm to Plate Independent Grocers Task Force launched the Take 5 series of five-seven minute training videos for convenience, general, grocery and other retail stores…
Wellspring Farm
Photo: Corey Hendrickson
Written by Shane Rogers Green Mountain Farm Direct, a food hub run by Green Mountain Farm-to-School, is working to connect local farmers with schools, restaurants, and institutions across northern Vermont to increase the farm’s sales and boost consumption of local food in institutions and the overall region. Those partnerships have created…
Volunteers at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf prepare fresh food donations
Photo: Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf
Written by Helen Labun The University of Vermont may not be a traditional restaurant, but it moves a lot of food. Their dining units serve an average of 12,812 meals each day—enough to feed dinner to every resident of Montpelier with plenty left over for everyone to grab dessert and a…
Berry picking is a low cost way to bulk up on local food.
Photo: Rooted in Vermont
Vermonters enjoy local food and beverages in a variety of ways—growing or foraging their own, purchasing directly from a farmer or at the store, hunting or fishing, eating at schools and institutions serving local food, finding food from a community food shelf or the Vermont Foodbank, or just by trading…
Fall pumpkin harvest
Photo: Land For Good
Written by Kathy Ruhf Farmland access and affordability are top obstacles for new and beginning farmers in New England and nationally. Many new farmers cannot afford to purchase land to start or expand their operations. At the same time nearly 30% of New England farmers will exit farming in the next decade.…
Food preparation skills are developed through cooking for Meals on Wheels in the Cornucopia program in the NEK.
Photo: NEK Food System Plan
Written by Taylar Foster The Northeast Kingdom Food System Plan was re-released in December of 2016, marking a substantive update to Vermont’s only regional food system plan. The Center for an Agricultural Economy, the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, and a steering committee composed of Northeast Kingdom cross industry experts and social…
Intervale Food Hub delivers fresh produce to UVM.
Photo: Intervale Center
Written by Bobby Young For over 10 years, the Intervale Food Hub has been working with Sodexo and the University of Vermont to increase their procurement of local foods. The Intervale Food Hub, a social enterprise of the Intervale Center, works with nearly 40 Vermont producers to sell local food direct…
Farm to School program gleaning at Pete's Greens
Photo: Center for an Agricultural Economy
Written by Betsy Rosenbluth Vermont has much to celebrate as a national leader in the Farm to School movement and it hasn’t happened by accident. Nearly a decade ago, in 2007, Vermont was one of the first states to pass a Farm to School bill. That legislation has supported more than…
Healthy and local dining options at UVM Medical Center
Photo: UVM Medical Center
Written by Alison Nihart New research from the University of Vermont has quantified the economic impact of local food purchasing by the University of Vermont Medical Center. This study, the first of its kind in the state, shows how Vermont’s largest hospital is contributing toward Vermont reaching its institutional consumption…
Vermont Commodity Program crew members bag potatoes at Salvation Farms’ facility in Winooski gleaned from Barber Farm in Jericho.
Photo: Salvation Farms
Written by Marcella Houghton Pick a food – and you are likely to find a Vermont-made version. From coffee to peanut butter, from to bread to beer, the abundance of edible goods with the Vermont brand is just one measure of how we value our state’s food system. But one place we’re…
School Lunch at Edmund's Middle School
Photo: Hunger Free Vermont
Written by Alida Duncan Hunger Free Vermont’s vision is for Vermont’s school cafeterias and classrooms to be a welcoming place where all kids equally share meals together, and that school provide a learning lab for healthy eating—including exposure to local foods and creating localvores for life. This vision aligns with Vermont’s…
Woodchuck Hard Cider employees pick for their neighbors
Photo: Vermont Foodbank
Written by Judy Stermer September is National Hunger Action Month, a time when food banks across the country work to mobilize the public to take action on the issue of hunger. But hunger in Vermont is a 365 day-a-year problem. In Vermont, the Foodbank provides food assistance to 153,000 Vermonters. Nearly…
CRAFT greenhouse learning session in Addison County
Photo: NOFA VT
Written by Maria Buteux Reade A group of farmers gather in a pasture and stare intently at a young man struggling to push a long probe deep into the ground. He shakes his head sheepishly and hands off the penetrometer to the next volunteer. No luck for her either. The…
Workers at Black River Meats (Springfield)
Photo: Black River Meats
Written by Mark Cannella Published in Vermont's Local Banquet Small farms in Vermont contribute tremendous value to our evolving food system by being nimble enough to respond to shifting consumer demand quickly. Small farms have pioneered niche products, such as multi-variety mesclun mixes and hybrid CSA memberships. They are engaged in cutting-edge production…
Maggie Atherton, an 8th generation future dairy farmer
Photo: Aires Hill Family Farm
Written by Laura Hardie, New England Dairy Promotion Board Karie Thompson Atherton, 35, is the seventh generation to grow up on her family’s dairy farm in Berkshire, Vermont and always knew she wanted to continue the tradition of dairy farming. “There's definitely easier ways to make a living, but none as fulfilling,"…
Green Mountain Farm-to-School AmeriCorps members teach food preservation at Old Stone House in Brownington
Photo: GMFTS
Written by Shane Rogers, Green Mountain Farm-to-School Be on the lookout, AmeriCorps members serving with Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS) as farm-to-school coordinators are bringing place-based nutrition and agriculture education into schools across the Northeast Kingdom – 27 to be exact. Using original, grade-specific curriculum, created with the financial support from the Stony Point…
Happy consumer at Nea-Tocht Farm during last year's Breakfast on the Farm
Photo: UVM Extension
Written by Julie Smith, UVM Extension, Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Ted Ferris, MSU Extension, Animal Science The first Vermont Breakfast on the Farm event gave consumers and farm neighbors a first-hand look at modern food production. Hosted by Nea-Tocht Farm in Ferrisburgh in August 2015, the event was organized and…
Grinding Masa! All Souls Tortilleria packaged tortillas are now available at City Market in Burlington VT
Photo: All Souls Tortilleria
Written by Sarah Bhimani, City Market, Onion River Co-op City Market, a community-owned food co-op in Burlington, VT, has a list of Global Ends that guides their business and all that they do. One of their Global Ends is “strengthening the local food system,” which is met through a myriad of…
Seth Gillim and Mike Ingalls are managers of the Intervale Conservation Nursery, founded in 2002 and dedicated to growing native, locally sourced trees and shrubs for riparian restoration projects throughout Vermont.
Photo: Rachel Carter
Written by Rachel Carter Published in Small Farm Quarterly Native trees and shrubs intertwine with one another, keeping 350-acres of flood plain intact along the banks of the Winooski River, best known as the Intervale. Located within the city limits of Vermont’s urban metropolis (42,000), Burlington boasts a solid urban farming culture,…
A loan is helping kickstart Rob Rock’s agriculture machinery and fabrication business, a bonus for Vermont farmers in need of his custom farm equipment and metal-working services.
Photo: Farm Fund
Written by Caitlin Gildrien Published in Vermont's Local Banquet Early on a January morning in 2011, Pete Johnson of Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury heard a funny noise. When he looked out his window, he saw his barn engulfed in flames. The building and all of the equipment and product inside was in…
Montpelier's farmers' market.
Photo: Rachel Carter
Written by Caroline Abels Published in Vermont's Local Banquet Over the past 10 years farmers’ markets in Vermont have burst forth like a backyard garden in July. Currently there are 63 markets in the Vermont Farmers’ Market Association, and a dozen or so that aren’t members. But every now and then you…
The work crew at Chappelle's Potatoes.
Photo: CAE.
Written by Alissa Matthews and Sarah Waring Vermont's Local Banquet There’s no vegetable more basic than a potato. This humble, tuberous root crop, Solanum tuberosum, grows in the dark, hidden from view most of the year, and emerges late when the air is frosty. It’s not as exciting as kale, not as…
Salvation Farms' gleaning programs are changing lives through community engagement and food systems work.
Photo: Salvation Farms.
Written by Suzanne Podhaizer Vermont's Local Banquet At some of Vermont’s correctional facilities, inmates are required to labor while serving time, so it’s not uncommon for those in the custody of the state to spend their days picking up trash on the side of the road or punching out Vermont license plates. But…
Karyl Kent (Richmond Elementary), David Horner (Chittenden East), and Alison Forrest (Brewster Pierce Elementary, Huntington), school nutrition directors holding the new school cookbook they contributed to.
Photo: Caroline Abels
Written by Bonnie North We all know that “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Similarly, as any parent knows, you can put good, healthy food on kids’ lunch plates but that’s no guarantee they’ll actually eat it. But who can blame them? Consider what they’re…
Good Food Good Medicine community meal.
Photo: Food Works
Food Works at Two Rivers Center’s Good Food Good Medicine program takes a seasonal approach to good health and nutrition at two low-income housing sites in Barre. In the spring and summer months, residents at Highgate and Green Acres apartments grow their own food in community gardens or in raised…
Farms Program class of 2009.
Photo: Intervale Center.
The Farms Program, a nationally recognized farm business incubator, has supported the growth of dozens of farms since 1990. Farms are accepted into the program after a rigorous application process that includes developing a business plan and presenting it to staff and existing Intervale farmers. New farmers have access to land…
© 2021 Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. All rights reserved.
Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, 3 Pitkin Court, Suite 301E, Montpelier, Vermont 05602
