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From Local to Regional: Defining Vermont’s Foodshed

Throughout the planning process developing Vermont’s “Farm to Plate” Strategic Plan, we heard many definitions about what the geographic boundaries of “local food” means to different people. Early localvores often used a 30, 50 or 100 mile radius, while others believe local to be a...

Vermont’s food and farm sector adds 2,200 new food system jobs

Food entrepreneurs have added at least 2,220* new jobs and at least 199 new businesses to the Vermont economy since the 2009 launch of the Farm to Plate Investment Program. Over the same time period, total employment across all economic sectors grew by 7,654 new...

The Vermont Food System Atlas Launches!

There’s an exciting new tool for exploring Vermont’s food system – the Vermont Food System Atlas! The Food Atlas is the digital platform for advancing the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, a ten-year plan assembled by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund to strengthen Vermont’s food...

Conference: Connecting Food System Education with Employers

More than one hundred food system educators, state officials, students, and business people met on Tuesday, January 15, to discuss how to better prepare students for careers in the expanding farm and food sector of Vermont’s economy. They were reacting to a recent study by...

Farm Fresh Fuel Project: Growing Our Own Biodiesel

A small revolution is happening in Grand Isle County, in the northwestern corner of Vermont. On a rainy Saturday in December, a small crowd gathered in Roger Rainville’s dairy barn-turned-energy lab. They were dairy farmers, organic growers, and landowners, but this year, this group of ten...

Farm to Plate Annual Gathering: Taking Stock and Moving Ahead

From the expansion of Black River Produce into a 50,000 square foot meat processing facility and the 19 value-added food producers crafting away at the Mad River Food Hub, to Green Mountain Farm-to-School’s “Lunchbox” mobile farmers’ market and the emergence of several large in-state milk...