By Kristen Thompson

Emma Bliss, Food Hub Operations Coordinator and sometimes driver for Food Connects, already has Food Hub Van 2 packed when I arrive. I hop into the van, and Emma sets up her music. 

“Music is essential,” she tells me.

We’re driving on the Food Connects Westminster Pick-up Route in late March. Emma tells me March and April are the hunger months—when the storage crops are running low, and spring produce isn’t ready to harvest yet. We’re stopping at Harlow Farm today—an especially important producer this time of year because they grow many storage crops. We’ll also be picking up from True North Granola, FinAllie Ferments, Basin Farm, and Green Mountain Orchards. This is one of our shorter pick-up routes, but in the summer, with more fresh produce in season, this route will be much busier with stops at farms like Allen Brothers.

We pull out of the parking lot at Browne Court and head towards downtown Brattleboro. Our first stop is The Cotton Mill, home to several start-ups and small producers, including True North Granola. As we drive through downtown Brattleboro, I ask Emma about the Food Hub’s business model as an entrepreneurial non-profit.

“We really prioritize the farmers and producers,” she explains.

In 2021, Food Connects returned over $1,270,000 back to farmers and food producers in our community.

At The Cotton Mill, we park the van by the main loading dock and head inside. Across from Tavernier Chocolates, we find the door to Truth North Granola’s facility and knock. One of the True North Granola Team members brings our order out to us. We can carry this week’s order in one trip, but orders vary from week to week.

We thank them and head out to the van, where it’s starting to drizzle.

Back on the road, I ask Emma whether there are ever any deliveries on this route. We do have a Westminster delivery route, but as Emma explains, “it’s logistically complicated to do pick-ups and deliveries together, so we try to do them separately.” Some farms, such as Scott Farm, are on our delivery and pickup routes, Emma tells me. It’s exciting to see partners participating as both producers and customers in our food system network.

This route usually has many Just-In-Time pickups, meaning we pick up fresh produce to fill customer orders we received that week—saving on food waste and ensuring fresher produce for our customers. Food Hub employees have told me, “It’s more work, but it’s worth it to provide the freshest, highest quality produce for  our customers.” 

Our next stop, FinAllie Ferments, takes us up 91 North to Bellows Falls.

As we pass through downtown Bellows Falls, Emma points out the opera house, where you can get a great deal on movies and snacks, and the thrift shop she likes.

“If you ever want to plan a day trip in the area, I can give you a full itinerary,” she tells me. Emma grew up in Southern VT, making this tour an introduction to Food Hub pick-ups and the region Food Connects calls home.

As we pass the Bellows Falls Middle School, we start talking about the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union and Farm to School (FTS). FTS is where Food Connects began, and it continues to be a core component of our work, including in our Food Hub.

“Bellows Falls Middle School is a big delivery for us, and they also did a summer food box program for students. It’s really important for students to have proper nutrition. I think people are starting to acknowledge that more than when we were students.”

We arrive at the warehouse where we pick up FinAllie Ferments, and Emma looks up the code to enter the building. We stack the many boxes of Curry Kraut, Black Garlic Kimchi, and more onto the handcart we’ve taken out of the van—where it usually sits seatbelted against the wall. 

Part of the art of pick-ups is keeping the products organized by flavor so the team can easily organize the boxes when we arrive back at the warehouse. We put flavors of the same type in stacks together at the front of the van.

Behind those, we’ll be loading our Just In Time orders from Basin and Harlow Farms. Those pickups take us to Harlow’s barn-turned-warehouse in Westminster, VT. Harlow is holding both our orders from them and Basin. It’s one of those simple but inspiring examples of cooperation among our partners.

Before pulling up to the loading dock, Emma stops the van and gets out to open the back doors. Then we back the rest of the way up to the dock and splash through the muddy road to the barn's side door. We’re the only ones there, but Emma knows the routine. We open two sliding doors and use a pallet lift to carry our pallet of carrots and potatoes to the van.

Emma tells me about the benefits of partnerships with our comparatively larger producers like Harlow.

“They’re a very key central producer for us, making up a lot of our produce for the whole season,” Emma explains, “And they’re glad to have someone distributing locally so they can sell their products locally.”

As we approach Green Mountain Orchards, Emma lets me in on a secret—they have the best cider doughnuts and the nicest people of all time.

When we arrive, I meet Andrea Darrow, Co-Owner of Green Mountain Orchards, who steps off her elliptical to greet me. She tells us about all the delicious food that people like to come into their store for, which is also, in some ways, a museum—with old cars and farm equipment displayed around the room.

On the road home, we pass one of our customers, the Putney Food Co-op, and Emma offers to stop to pick up snacks. Riding along with Emma on her route, I feel just how close-knit our network of producers and customers is.

Emma says she hears good feedback from the customers she meets.

“The feedback is that we’re very communicative and friendly at all levels [of the organization].”

There’s one more stop today, the Food Connects loading dock, where we’ll see our pick-ups safely to the warehouse. More of the Food Hub Team is ready to help us when we arrive. Scott Berzofsky, Food Hub Warehouse Coordinator, and Raymond Johnston, Food Hub Warehouse Specialist, carry pallets over and begin unloading the van with Emma.

I’m at the end of my trip shadowing Emma on the Westminster Pick-up Route, and there’s a lot to take in. Even though Emma drives these routes alone, I’m struck by the connections she facilitates and participates in within our community food system. It truly takes the whole team of customers, producers, drivers, warehouse coordinators, and more to build this system of healthy families, thriving farms, and connected communities.

But my day isn’t over. Next, I’ll be shadowing Raymond in the Food Hub warehouse and learning about yet another crucial piece of the local and regional food distribution puzzle. But for now, it’s time for my lunch break. Stay tuned for more!