We are thrilled to welcome new customers Champlain Valley Apiaries and Spectrum Youth Services to the market this month. Support businesses and organizations who are supporting our local farms! 

AND we onboarded new-to-the-market producers Mama Tree Farm, Lucas Family Farms, and Long Cloud Farm.

We are enjoying early spring with a bounty of over-wintered spinach on the market. These sweet, crunchy greens are almost too good to wilt; we're eating the leaves straight from the bag! Don't miss out on this ephemeral treat. The market is open every Friday at noon through Monday at 10am.

Word on the street is folks are looking to volunteer with us, which we love to hear! While our day to day tasks are covered by staff, we DO have a wish list of skills we're looking for!

We'd love to have your contact info. on file if you are experienced with any of the following:

- Vehicle maintenance (cargo vans)

- HVAC (walk-in coolers/freezers)

- Fundraising

- Graphic design

- Mural design (for the other half of the front of the hub)

- Gardening (for a community garden in front of the hub)

- Musicians (to jam at the 5/4 open house!)

Email info@acornvt.org and let us know what skills you'd like to volunteer and the best way to get in touch!

Welcome Kristin Blodgett to the ACORN Team!

We've hired ACORN's first-ever Finance Manager! We were so excited when our former board member and Treasurer Kristin Blodgett put her hand up to trade in her board member hat for an ACORN staff member hoodie! Kristin brings a wealth of relevant experience from her time at the Center for an Agricultural Economy, where she also manages the Vermont Farm Fund.

Please give Kristin (left, in the picture) a big welcome and thank her for all she is doing for our local food system!

We also welcomed three new board members this year, who we'll introduce in next month's newsletter! If you know anyone who would like to serve as ACORN's Treasurer, please email Lindsey@acornvt.org.

Join us at the ACORN Food Hub Open House

We're opening our loading docks and rolling up our bay doors to welcome the community and offer a peek behind the scenes of the local food system.

Join us on Monday, May 4 from 4:00pm-6:00pm at the ACORN Food Hub (616 Exchange St Middlebury, VT) for a casual but fun afternoon of good food, conversation, and connections.

We will be providing light refreshments fresh off the online market. Registration is requested so we have a rough estimate of the number of attendees. The event is free to attend and all are welcome. Stay tuned on where to park!

Food System News

A “Walls for Women” mural dedicated to youth activist Wynta Amor-Rogers. (Artist: Sarah Painter; lettering: Cymone Wilder; photo credit: Don Sniegowski/Flicker). Seen on Civil Eats.

Action Alert Today! Tell Governor Scott: Please Sign S.60--Farm & Forestry Ops Security Special Fund!

UVM Launches Master's in Agroecology Applications for the first cohort are due July 15, 2026

Op-ed: The Persian Gulf Oil Crisis Is a Food Crisis (Civil Eats)

Democrats Tie High Food Prices to Corporate Consolidation (Civil Eats)

Support Our Neighbors

Viva El Sabor Catering has a new website! Consider hiring Viva el Sabor for all your catering needs. 

Donate to the Vermont Freedom Fund.

Sign up for a rapid response training with Migrant Justice here (make sure to select “rapid response”).

Review Migrant Justice’s short flyer on reporting ICE/border patrol sightings. 

Attend a Know Your Rights Training. ACLU will be offering a workshop at the Changemakers Summit on April 11th (see events below).

Learn about Migrant Justice's rapid response hotline and put the number in your phone!

Farmer Resources

• 3/27: Technical and Financial Assistance for Flower Farmers workshop in St. Albans, 1-3pm
• 5/1: VT Cheese Council's Artisan Cheesemakers Conference in Rutland
• ICE on the Farm: Complexities and Nuances (Recording)
• Homecoming Seeds is looking for folks with experience growing flower, squash and herb seeds, beans, and peas who are interested in growing on contract for their seed catalog. Call or email Charlie: 802-904-3225
• VVBGA Pick Your Own website- Please create or update your listing
• Participate in a study about farmer values and get paid $50:
• New England Dairy
• New England Poultry and Livestock for meat
• New England Sugarbush
• New England Vegetable/Fruit

Throughout the Year, Buy Local

ACORN's Online Market is loaded with spring greens, delicious treats, meat, dairy, and more!

• March 26: “Herbs and…” workshop" at 6:30pm, the Monkton Community Room. Contact Julie Mitchell: eosbotanicals@gmail.com 
• March 27: Locals Night at Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven, 5:30-7:30 p.m
• March 28: ACSWD Repair Fair in Middlebury, 10am-2pm
• March 28: No Kings Day 3 in Brandon, Middlebury, Montpelier and Burlington
• March 29: Learn How to Make Jam with Honey with V Smiley
• March 31 and April 7: For All of Us: Shaping an Economy for Wellbeing virtual “community dialogue” workshop
• April 11: Vermont Changemakers Summit
• April 20 - May 10: Food Systems New England 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge
• April 23: " “Herbs and…” workshop" at 6:30pm, the Monkton Community Room. Contact Julie Mitchell: eosbotanicals@gmail.com 
• All of April: Hannaford has selected ACORN to benefit from the Fight Hunger Bag Program throughout April. Every time a $2.50 reusable Fight Hunger Bag is purchased at the Middlebury Hannaford in April, $1 will be donated to ACORN.
• May 4: ACORN Food Hub Open House
• Ongoing through May 2: Champlain Orchards tree sale
• Ongoing through May: Wine Wednesdays by Jessica’s at the Swift House

We are grateful to be in community with you.

Happy spring! 🌱

Lindsey, Abby, Alexandre, Alyssa, Jess, Kristin and the ACORN Board

FINAL SHOUT OUT

The Illusion of Freedom and the Myth of America 250, Leonard Peltier Speaks Out

info@acornvt.org / www.acornvt.org