The 2023 Annual Farm to Plate Gathering is just three weeks away: November 16-17 at Killington Resort!

Registration price increases on Wednesday November 1.

No-cost registration (formerly known as scholarship) is available to all farmers, farmworkers, food workers, small food business owners, legislators, farmers market managers, and anyone that identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color. Students who are not supported by their degree program to attend the Gathering may select no-cost registration. REGISTER TODAY!

This year’s theme, “Transformative Change,” will surely feature engaging breakout sessions! Based on feedback at the 2022 Gathering, there is a shared sense amongst Network members to "be brave" in how we work together to address some of the most pressing issues facing our state, region, and world.

The Farm to Plate Agricultural Literacy Priority Strategy Team is excited to announce the release of a new report that seeks to answer important questions: What is agricultural literacy? Why does it matter? Who are the key stakeholders? And how can we strengthen agricultural literacy amongst Vermonters? Click to find the full story here!

This effort was led by Shea Brams, a Farm to Plate intern through Middlebury College’s MiddWorks program. During summer 2023, 26 interviews were conducted with individuals from organizations around the state whose work intersects, either directly or indirectly, with agricultural literacy. The intention was to develop a deeper understanding of the term, how it is measured, and what we can do to reimagine and promote agricultural literacy amongst Vermonters. If you are interested in joining future conversations, please register for the Farm to Plate Agricultural Literacy Team. Questions? Email Kelly Dolan, Farm to Plate Network Manager: kellydolan@vsjf.org.

Join the Farm to Plate Network for a 2-part Lunch and Learn series about the recently released New England Feeding New England report A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience.

October 27, 12:00-1:15 pm:

On Friday October 27th from 12:00-1:15pm we’ll be joined by USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Christian Peters to guide us through Volume 2 of the report Estimating Production for 30% Regional Self-Reliance, which outlines scenarios for how the six New England state could meet the goal of supplying 30% of our food from regional sources by 2030.

Zoom info can be found on the Full Network Exchange webpage – you need to log into the F2P website to see the zoom info!

The Farm to Plate Food Cycle Community of Practice visited Thetford Elementary School recently to learn about school composting systems. Cat Buxton of Grow More, Waste Less guided attendees through their three compost bin complete Food Loop. The success of this program is largely thanks to the commitment of school staff and students alike; as Buxton described, all play an active role whether it be educating, gathering food scraps and manure from the school's goats, or maintaining the actual compost system. Schools hoping to launch a compost system can register for the Super Compost program. And for Farm to Plate Network members that are interested in food cycle related topics more broadly, email Farm to Plate Network Manager, Kelly Dolan: kellydolan@vsjf.org.

Open less than a year when the pandemic hit, Karin Bellemare, owner of The Roots Farm Market in Middlesex, quickly built up her business to meet the needs of her neighbors. “It was wild times,” she said. “We had to change everything to accommodate demand for local food during the pandemic. And then there was the aftermath of that.” Choosing to stabilize instead of skyrocket, Bellemare enrolled in the business coaching program at VSJF to establish systems that aligned her growth and her business with her values. Having coaches, she says, helped validate that her intuition was on the right track. “They would show me literal evidence that things were working. It was both the feedback and having the systems in place to look at that evidence. It gave me trust in myself to just keep going.”

Small Bites, is a unique twice monthly email by Annie Harlow highlighting intricacies of selling food. The target audience is farmers with retail operations, food manufacturers, distributors, and independent and cooperative grocery stores. Designed to foster an understanding of how to sell food, it features resources, glossaries, and operational insights for businesses to grow and recognize the ‘economic multiplier effect’ of the Vermont local food economy. Each issue (check out a recent issue) is rich in content to educate, inspire, and develop strong businesses by relying on a network of affiliated organizations and businesses promoting Vermont products in a nationally and internationally competitive environment.

Small Bites comes to you via USDA & High Meadows grants. Content is created for farmers, food manufacturers, distributors, & grocers to increase VT food sales

Questions?

Contact: Annie Harlow

smallbites802@gmail.com

This is the final instillation of a series of stories on agroforestry in Vermont. This month, we are featuring Eleven Acre Farm in Charlotte and farm owner Chris Chaisson: Agroforestry is aligned with or adapted from many traditional agricultural practices around the world, and yet, Chris still notes a sense of beginning in the current state of agroforestry. Chris is a resource for design, business consulting, agroforestry nursery plants, and product development.

Stories and related mapping project were created by recent UVM Food System's graduate Sydney Blume in collaboration with Farm to Plate's Agroforestry Priority Strategy Team. To see this full story and others, visit the Vermont Agroforestry Storytelling Map.

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Request for Proposals for Farm to Plate's 2023 Gathering is Live!

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