• When was Foods Connects founded?

• What is your mission?

• What are your core values?

• What does Food Connects do?

• What does it mean to be an “Entrepreneurial Non-Profit?”

• Is Food Connects a 501c3?

• How does Food Connects obtain funding?

• How do you address food security?

• How can I work with Food Connects? How can I get involved?

• Where are you located?

FARM TO SCHOOL FAQ

• What does Farm to School Mean?

• What does your Farm to School program do?

• What areas does your Farm to School program serve?

• Do you teach classes in schools?

FOOD HUB FAQ

• What is a Food Hub?

• What does your Food Hub do?

• What areas does your Food Hub serve?

• How is the Food Hub different from a for-profit distributor?

• Where does your food come from?

• Does Food Connects do any food processing?

• Does Food Connects run a farm?

• Is the Food Hub a Food Bank? How are they different?

• How is Food Connects different from Groundworks Collaborative - Foodworks?

• What is Monadnock Menus? Does it still exist?

• What is Vermont Way Foods?

A: Food Connects (FC) was founded in 2013. But our history goes back much further. Our Farm to School program started in 2007 as Windham County Farm to School (WCFTS), and our Food Hub started in 2008 as Windham Farm and Food (WFF). In 2013, WCFTS became Food Connects, and in 2015 WFF partnered with FC to become the program we are today. In 2017, Food Connects acquired Monadnock Menus, an NH-based food hub that has been in operation since 2013. 

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A: Our mission is to create Healthy Families, Thriving Farms, and Connected Communities. 

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A: 

• We challenge the status quo by taking risks, acting boldly, and learning from our mistakes to transform the food system.

• We commit to pursuing justice, fostering inclusivity, and practicing equity.

• We believe in the possibility of BOTH equitable access to nutritious food AND producer viability.

• We cultivate a culture of learning, care, creativity, transparency, honesty, and humility within our team and with our partners.

• We know that collaboration and strong relationships are vital to building a vibrant and healthy community and that we can only fulfill our vision when we invite everyone to the table.

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A:  Food Connects is an entrepreneurial non-profit that delivers local food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming the local food system.

Food Connects has two core programs: a Farm to School program and a Food Hub. You can read more about the individual programs below. We aim to be a catalyst for food systems change—centering food consumption, education, and distribution around community-based food systems.

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A: Food Connects is a mission-driven organization instead of being driven solely by profit. We focus on social and environmental goals in tandem with our economic goals. As a non-profit, we have a board of directors, and our programs are funded primarily through grants and corporate donations. Our Food Hub does see sales revenue that goes to support our programming, but not at the expense of our core values.

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A: Yes! You can view our form here.

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A: The majority of Food Connects’ funding comes from grants and corporate sponsorships. Our Farm to School program also receives fees from Member Schools, and our Food Hub invoices our wholesale customers (schools, hospitals, co-ops and independent grocery stores, restaurants, and farm stores and stands). Individual donors help support both programs individually and organizationally.

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A: We support and advocate for Universal School meals in schools and work to improve school nutrition programs. School meals are essential for food access for Vermonters. In Vermont, food insecurity impacts many of our families—over 30,000 students receive nutrition assistance through 3SquaresVT. Students eating school breakfast and lunch helps families save money—roughly $4 a day per child. For a family with three kids, that’s $2,400 a year in savings! Food Connects helps school nutrition programs offer high-quality, nutritious meals with local ingredients, making school meals the best they can be.

Our Food Hub works with Food Banks and emergency food programs (like Everyone Eats) to deliver local food to the community. Often, our Food Hub will donate food to the Vermont Foodbank and Foodworks, a program of Groundworks Collaborative. 

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A: Contact us! We are always open to new and relevant community partnerships. If you are a school, teacher, or cafeteria, you can reach out to our Farm to School team for ways we can help your school’s Farm to School programming grow. If you are interested in being a wholesale customer through our Food Hub, reach out to our sales team. Or, if you are interested in selling your New England-based products through our Food Hub, reach out to our procurement team. 

We are always looking for volunteers and board members interested in improving the local food systems. Please contact our development team if you are interested!

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A: Our offices are located at 22 Browne Court in Brattleboro, VT, at the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation business park. Our Food Hub is located at the back of the building, near the loading docks, in unit 110. Our Administrative offices and Farm to School program are located at the front of the building in unit 103.

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A: From the National Farm to School Network website: 

“Farm to School enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education sites.

Students gain access to healthy, local foods as well as education opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons, and farm field trips. Farm to school empowers children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities.

Farm to school implementation differs by location but always includes one or more of the following:

• Procurement: Local foods are purchased, promoted, and served in the cafeteria or as a snack or taste test;

• School gardens: Students engage in hands-on learning through gardening; and

• Education: Students participate in education activities related to agriculture, food, health, or nutrition.”

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A: We provide coaching and support for schools working towards building robust Farm to School programming. Some examples of the support we offer are:

• Coaching and facilitation of school-based Farm to School teams

• Grant application assistance

• Professional development

• Marketing support

• Technical assistance implementing nutrition education, cooking carts, taste tests, and school gardens. 

• Improved access to healthy foods and stronger School Nutrition Programs through procurement support, grant writing, marketing training, and increasing school meal participation. 

• Systems change through leadership in statewide collaborations, storytelling, and advocacy. 

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A: Our Farm to School team currently works with schools in Windham County, VT. We also partner with the Monadnock Farm to School Network in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire.

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A: Our Farm to School team is a team of educators. But, no, we do not directly teach classes in schools. We provide teachers with support on specific lessons. We occasionally offer one-off programming through special partnerships (through organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro and the Monadnock Food Co-op). We provide professional development opportunities for teachers to implement Farm to School curriculum in their classrooms.

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A: There is no one-size-fits-all definition for a “food hub.” Some food hubs focus on light food processing and distribution, others on aggregation and distribution, and others on technical assistance and farmer education. We fall under the classification of a “regional food hub.”

What is that? According to the USDA Regional Food Hub Resource Guide, “A regional food hub is a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.”

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A: Our Food Hub aggregates and delivers from over 125 New England farm and food producers to over 280 wholesale customers in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Our wholesale customers include schools, hospitals, co-ops and independent grocery stores, restaurants, and farm stores and stands.

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A: We have wholesale customers and producers primarily throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. We partner with other food hubs throughout New England, including the New Hampshire and Vermont Food Hub networks, to expand the markets for our local producers and increase the product diversity for our wholesale customers while still supporting mission-aligned food producers.

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A:  

• We are mission-driven in all of our work. 

• All of our food is source-identified.

• We strive to represent farmers and food producers of all scales and types who, in turn, offer unique products and follow high-quality standards (often Organic, humanely-raised, non-GMO, etc.).

• We strive to mark up products at a fair rate. We aim to support our activities and projects with that margin, not to maximize profits. We strive to ensure that farmers and food producers are getting a high value for their products.

• And we do just-in-time delivery service (meaning we pick up food on Tuesdays to deliver on Wednesdays, for example) to ensure the freshest quality products, especially when it comes to produce.

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A: We distribute food from over 125 producers across New England. To see some of our selection, check out our online catalog.

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A: No, we do not.

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A: No, we do not.

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A: No, we are not a food bank. Food banks focus on emergency food relief by collecting and distributing food to hunger-relief charities and individuals experiencing food insecurity. While Food Connects distributes food, we sell our food to wholesale customers. Our Food Hub will work with Food Banks and emergency food programs (like Everyone Eats) to deliver local food to the community. Often, our Food Hub will donate food to the Vermont Foodbank and Foodworks, a program of Groundworks Collaborative. 

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A: Foodworks is a food-shelf where those experiences food insecurity can access affordable foods. Often, our Food Hub will donate food to the Vermont Foodbank and Foodworks. 

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A: Monadnock Menus was a food distribution program run by the Cheshire County Conservation District. In 2017, Food Connects acquired Monadnock Menus and dissolved the use of the name, but still works with many of the New Hampshire customers and producers. 

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A:  The Vermont Food Hub Collaborative (VFHC), formed by Food Connects, The Intervale Center, Green Mountain Farm Direct, and The Center for Agricultural Economy,  created Vermont Way Foods (VWF) in 2020. VWF is a unique brand based on Vermont values. VWF will create new market opportunities for Vermont producers, supporting a robust and vibrant farm and food economy with the goal to break even and generate $12 Million each year in new sales for Food Hub members, farmers, and partners by 2025. 

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