Agriculture touches every corner of Vermont—and every plate in New England. As we navigate growing challenges and opportunities, we all have a stake in producing more of what we eat every day.
Through the Vermont Farm to Plate Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan 2021–2030, business coaching for Vermont value-added farm and food businesses, and the development of resilient regional supply chains, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) is working to build a more prosperous, resilient, food secure, and equitable food system.
Was Held November 20-21, 2025
Burke Mountain Resort
Each November, over 300 food system leaders come together for two days of:
Regional food system planners gather annually to drive coordinated action across the region to shift food sourcing closer to home. In 2025, they gathered at Lake Morey Resort in October.
Visit the Farm to Plate website.
In 2009, the Vermont Legislature created the Vermont Farm to Plate Investment Program and tasked VSJF with creating a 10-year strategic plan and working toward its intended outcomes.
With deep expertise and alignment with statewide priorities, Farm to Plate serves as a trusted partner on key boards and committees, including:
The Farm to Plate Network brings together farms, food businesses, nonprofits, funders, educators, and government agencies to drive coordinated, statewide action.
After a decade of success, the Legislature reauthorized Farm to Plate in 2019 (Act 23) and directed VSJF and the Network to create the next 10-year plan.
The Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan is the most comprehensive in the country and the first to achieve full state government engagement.
The Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan 2021–2030 includes:
Learn more about VSJF Business Coaching.
Since 2011, VSJF has provided year-long intensive coaching to farm and food businesses. Our business management coaching services help entrepreneurs work on their business—not just in it—so they are positioned for long term growth and success.
We help Vermont businesses grow by coordinating supply chains that connect producers, service providers, and capital partners. Our goal: remove bottlenecks, spark collaboration, and open new markets to create value at every step of the supply chain.
This project fulfills Priority Strategy #24 of the Strategic Plan: Develop a Vermont food security roadmap centered around a thriving food system and inspired by community-based responses to food insecurity and disruptive events.
The Vermont Food Security Roadmap to 2035 incorporates voices from food-insecure individuals, farmers, and community partners, and key factors that influence long‑term food security in Vermont, including:
Farm to Plate is also a founding member of the Vermont Food Security Coalition, a group within the Farm to Plate Network working collectively to strengthen statewide food access and advance food security policy. This partnership helps support state and regional efforts to ensure Vermont’s food supply can withstand climate change and other global disruptions.
In 2024, VSJF launched a multi-year initiative to develop Vermont’s local and regional food infrastructure—supported by USDA funding through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. The goal: help more Vermont businesses grow, hire, and expand their reach across New England.
This effort includes:
Led by VSJF in partnership with the VT Food Hub Collaborative and UVM Spatial Analysis Lab, this project—funded by the UVM Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships—is mapping Vermont’s food distribution routes. The goal is to expand this work to include New England-wide supply chain mapping, offering a unique visual tool for regional planning.
Visit the NEFNE website.
Vermont is working with partners across our six-state New England region to secure a more reliable, safe, and abundant regional food supply. While no single state can be fully self-sufficient, we can increase food self-reliance—an investment in our shared future and a safeguard against climate-induced and supply chain disruptions.
VSJF serves as the fiscal administrator of New England Feeding New England (NEFNE), a 10-year initiative put forth by the New England Food System Planners Partnership to ensure that 30% of the food consumed in New England is regionally produced by 2030.
NEFNE brings together:
To measure impact, NEFNE conducts Local Food Counts across all six states—modeled after Vermont’s success in growing local food sales from 5% in 2011 to 10% in 2020.
