In mid-January, the executive summary of Vermont's Farm to Plate Strategic Plan was hot off the press. Now seven months later, the groundbreaking ten-year plan by which the Green Mountain State will feed itself is well under way.
Last night Vermont local news station WCAX covered the story from Hardwick, Vermont.
Farm to Plate has dozens of outlined goals and strategies. New networking, marketing and financial planning workshops for farmers and "agra-preneurs" are in the works.
This month the program handed out $40,000 in grants to help the F2P movement gain momentum; $7,500 will go toward a new meat processing facility in Waitsfield, $5,000 will bring new community fridge and freezer space to the Food Venture Center in Hardwick.
It is only fitting that Hardwick be at the center of the story. In December 2009, I stood on the spot where Vermont Soy owner Andrew Meyer assured me that soon would stand the Vermont Food Venture Center. Now VFVC is about to receive a new community fridge and freezer.
Reams have been written on Hardwick as the model for community-sustained agriculture - regardless of its mere sliver of a growing season.
The brains and brawn behind Boston initiatives like Crop Circle Kitchen, Cambridge Community Kitchen, and the emerging food hub in New Bedford might appreciate being able to see Hardwick in action. And now they can...
On the third Thursday of each month, April to October, Hardwick's Center for an Agricultural Economy hosts a tour of the foodshed and showcases the Northeast Kingdom's exceptional agri-preneurs. The next tour is one week from today from 10am - 4pm.
So local food advocates, agri-preneurs and enthusiasts alike, can learn first hand from Vermont's successes. Plus, the farmstand is currently open. So there will be plenty to taste.
Urban farmer and UMass sustainable agriculture professor John Gerber asserted yesterday for world.edu that in New England - if it ain't local, it ain't sustainable!
Farm to Plate and poster-child Hardwick are proving the model.
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