Press Releases
New leadership announced at Vermont Farm to Plate
Vermont’s Farm to Plate food system plan to increase economic development and jobs in Vermont’s farm and food sector and improve access to healthy local food for all Vermonters is currently in its sixth year of implementation. Jake Claro has been named the Farm to Plate Director and will be responsible for providing facilitative leadership … Read More
New initiative launches to create jobs, expand Vermont forest products industry
The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund has launched a new initiative to assist the forest products industry in creating and retaining quality jobs and opening additional markets for locally produced wood products. A collaboration between the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, the Northern Forest Center, and the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Board, the new Forest Products Value … Read More
Community scale biodigester demonstrates renewable energy, waste reduction, and nutrient management in Vermont
“Big Bertha,” the anaerobic digester at Vermont Technical College, is operating at full capacity and successfully putting electricity onto the grid. With a carefully formulated diet of cow manure and organic matter from Vermont farms and brewery waste from the Alchemist and Long Trail Brewing Co., at full power Big Bertha transforms 16,000 gallons of … Read More
New Resource for Farmers: A Legal and Regulatory Overview of On-Farm Biodiesel Production in Vermont
A new report, On-Farm Biodiesel Production in Vermont: Legal and Regulatory Overview, conducted by the Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE) at Vermont Law School reviews all Vermont state and federal regulations related to on-farm biodiesel production. Commissioned by the Vermont Bioenergy Initiative at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, the report aims to inform farmers … Read More
Vermont at five year mark implementing Farm to Plate food system plan
Increases in local food consumption, jobs, and overall economic activity in the farm and food sector over the past five years are highlighted in the 2015 Farm to Plate Annual Report, released today by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. 2016 marks the halfway point of the release of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan and … Read More
Soil regeneration and clean water touted as foundation for healthy food at annual Vermont Farm to Plate Gathering
“Farm in nature’s image” was the takeaway message shared by Ray Archuleta, Conservation Agronomist at the USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) and keynote speaker at the fifth annual Farm to Plate Annual Gathering. Held annually at the end of October, the Gathering is the one time each year when the entire Farm to … Read More
Ellen Kahler Honored with Inaugural Con Hogan Award
The Vermont Community Foundation and the organizing committee for the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership are pleased to announce Ellen Kahler, executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF), as the winner of the inaugural award. The $15,000 award was presented to Kahler at a reception on October 8th at the Vermont … Read More
Ellen Kahler, Head of Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, to Receive 2015 Art Gibb Award
Ellen Kahler, the executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, will be recognized this week for her statewide work to promote green, sustainable jobs, and by extension, the farms and forests on which Vermont’s rural economy depends. Kahler, of Starksboro, will receive the Art Gibb Award for Individual Leadership from the Vermont Natural Resources … Read More
Vermont’s Food System: Relocalize it!
The local food movement has been capturing media attention all across the country. Vermont, in many ways, is serving as the pace setter for focused, coordinated activity that is driving job and food business creation, economic output, and finding creative ways for all Vermonters to participate in this renaissance of ‘relocalized’ food. “In 2009, when … Read More
Vermont Businesses call for more ‘Livable Jobs’
A group of business leaders gathered at the Vermont Statehouse Wednesday to call for the creation of more ‘Livable Jobs’ in the state – employment that allows Vermonters working full time to pay their bills without relying on public assistance. Released every two years in January by the Vermont Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office, the Basic … Read More
New job numbers, economic growth, and food justice conversations are focus at Vermont’s Farm to Plate Annual Gathering
Every October, food system leaders and innovators who comprise the Vermont Farm to Plate Network convene to review the progress towards implementing the State of Vermont’s Farm to Plate Strategic Plan and learn about the next set of challenges facing Vermont’s evolving food system. Approximately 300 individuals representing all facets of Vermont’s farm and food … Read More
Vermont sunflowers to help provide biodiesel power
Beautiful fields of sunflowers growing in Newbury and Shaftsbury, Vermont will have an unusual future: the flowers’ seeds will be converted to biodiesel and livestock feed. The fuel will be used in Green Mountain Power’s fleet of vehicles and for building heating, saving Green Mountain Power customers money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other … Read More