4.1: Food Security in Vermont
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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.
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Vermonters Feeding Vermonters purchases fresh, local produce like this to share with people facing hunger.
Photo: Vermont Foodbank
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Photo: Hunger Free Vermont
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Coupons and marketing materials for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Coupon Program
Photo: Green Mountain Farm to School
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Johnson State College Staff at Peaslee’s Potatoes in Guildhall, VT
Photo: NOFA-VT
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Meat processing in Vermont
Photo: Over the Hill Farm
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Kale harvest at Good Heart Farmstead in Worcester, Vermont
Photo: Good Heart Farnstead
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Wellspring Farm
Photo: Corey Hendrickson
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Volunteers at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf prepare fresh food donations
Photo: Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf
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Berry picking is a low cost way to bulk up on local food.
Photo: Rooted in Vermont
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Fall pumpkin harvest
Photo: Land For Good
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Photo: NEK Food System Plan
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Intervale Food Hub delivers fresh produce to UVM.
Photo: Intervale Center
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Farm to School program gleaning at Pete's Greens
Photo: Center for an Agricultural Economy
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Healthy and local dining options at UVM Medical Center
Photo: UVM Medical Center
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Photo: Salvation Farms
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School Lunch at Edmund's Middle School
Photo: Hunger Free Vermont
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Woodchuck Hard Cider employees pick for their neighbors
Photo: Vermont Foodbank
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CRAFT greenhouse learning session in Addison County
Photo: NOFA VT
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Workers at Black River Meats (Springfield)
Photo: Black River Meats
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Photo: Aires Hill Family Farm
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Green Mountain Farm-to-School AmeriCorps members teach food preservation at Old Stone House in Brownington
Photo: GMFTS
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Happy consumer at Nea-Tocht Farm during last year's Breakfast on the Farm
Photo: UVM Extension
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Photo: All Souls Tortilleria
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Photo: Rachel Carter
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Photo: Farm Fund
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Montpelier's farmers' market.
Photo: Rachel Carter
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The work crew at Chappelle's Potatoes.
Photo: CAE.
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Photo: Salvation Farms.
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Photo: Caroline Abels
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Good Food Good Medicine community meal.
Photo: Food Works
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Farms Program class of 2009.
Photo: Intervale Center.
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