ACORN's May Newsletter

Cultivating Connections

May 2026

We had so much fun at our first Food Hub Open House!

Thanks to everyone who came out, made art, sampled chocolate milk, planted fruit trees and toured the facility. It warmed our hearts to see select board members, food producers, school food service directors, food co-op buyers, professors, students, kiddos, and other non profit staffers meeting each other and enjoying local foods and beverages all while building stronger connections in our food shed.

We're stoked to add Lucas Family Farms' eggs, Overstory Farm fiddlehead products and shiitakes, and welcome back the full suite (sweet?) of Sisters of Anarchy ice cream to the market.

New products on the market! The market is open every Friday at noon through Monday at 10am.

Our 16th Local Food and Farm Guide is Out!

Find this directory of 250 local farms and food producers at the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, or your local grocer, hardware store, gym, cafe and farm stand. Big thanks to Christy, Elsie and the team at The Addison Independent for their continued partnership on this treasured community resource.

And huge gratitude to each and every advertiser who supports the printing and publishing of the guide. We couldn't do it without you.

If you don't live in the area, click here to read the guide online.

Just a few spots left in Summer CSA

Just a few spots left!

Due to the overwhelming success of our winter CSA, we're organizing our first-ever summer CSA. This will be a 12 week CSA which will run June 3 - August 19.

This weekly full diet share will include items like dairy, eggs, meat, veggies, value-added foods, and specialty products all sourced from our local community of farmers and food crafters. At $70/week, the cost of the full 12 weeks is $840 when paid by check and $865 when paid by credit card. We are only offering this share for the full 12 weeks and partial options are not currently available this time around.

Check out our FAQ here.

ACORN team ventures out on a field trip

We have a few annual spring traditions, one of which is taking a day to visit farms and food producers in our region for a learning journey.

This year we visited Head Over Fields in Charlotte, Yates Family Orchard in Monkton, and Maple Wind Farm in Richmond.

In addition to emphasizing how adaptable, knowledgeable and resilient successful growers must be, key takeaways included:

We need more weather stations on farms! Jessica Yates couldn't say enough good things about her new weather station which gives her the informations for a hyper-local forecast. Weather in Vermont's micro climates can be even more variable than other places, so the more data we have in each micro climate, the better our farmers can accurately forecast in real time, which could be a real game changer. We're keen to explore how we can support more farms to install weather stations, specifically in missing areas (see map here).
Area farms are doubling as mini grocery stores. Maple Wind Farm is expanding their retail space so they can carry more local ingredients that their area's grocery stores don't. Head Over Fields also sells regional local products in addition to selling their own produce at their farm stand. Consumer demand and support is key here!
Agritourism plays a role on all three farms - whether to build community, increase revenue, sell more products, and/or simply educate folks.

Thanks to Katie Rose Leonard, Jessica Yates and Catherine Sullivan for taking their time to meet with us, to answer so many questions, and for nourishing our communities with such good food.

Beat the Tour de Farms tickets price jump

The 18th annual Tour de Farms will be Saturday, September 19.

This year’s route is a scenic 37-mile adventure around Middlebury, AND an 8-mile family-friendly route.

This is ACORN’s largest annual fundraiser and supports small farm viability and local food access.

Register today! Prices increase on June 19, 2026. No one is turned away for lack of funds. For scholarship or volunteer opportunities, please email alyssa@acornvt.org.

Support Bridges to Health

Bridges to Health is an outreach program that helps immigrant and migrant communities across Vermont access healthcare and is in urgent need of financial support.

Many of the people they serve are farmworkers and migrant workers who face enormous barriers to healthcare: language access, transportation, fear, isolation, lack of insurance, and limited resources. Today, that work is at risk.