Stephanie Gates became the Food Service Director of the Bennington Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) in February 2021. She reached out to us in September 2021 with a strong interest in sourcing local foods for her students. We talked to Stephanie to learn more about her work to promote local food through BRSU meal programs in partnership with Food Connects.
Last month, we told you about our collaboration with up-and-coming food hub Vermont Farmers Food Center (VFFC) to bring local food boxes to Killington Grand Resort Hotel (KGRH) employees. We talked to Heidi Lynch, Executive Director of the VFFC, about their work and the value and impact of this collaboration. We also spoke to Greg Lang, Executive Chef at KGRH, about the impetus and impact of this project at the hotel. Check out the conversation.
This past June, Andrew Graham, Direct Markets Coordinator at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, reached out to Food Connects about an exciting opportunity. Killington Grand Resort Hotel (KGRH) was looking to set up a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program offering local food boxes to their employees. This project promised an exciting collaboration with partners across Vermont.
The diversity of Vermont cheese and the resiliency of its makers were both on display at the first Vermont Cheese Summit, held this August at Shelburne Farms on the shore of Lake Champlain.
Hosted by the Vermont Cheese Council, the event was a trial run for what could potentially become an annual gathering of cheesemakers, buyers, and distributors. Food Connects was on the scene for a day of behind-the-scenes farm, creamery, and cave tours, followed by a mini-conference and trade show.
At the end of July, we took a road trip to visit some of the Vermont Farms that we’re partnering with to feed Vermont schools this year. While Clare Barboza snapped some amazing photos for us, our Marketing Coordinator, Kristen Thompson, took the opportunity to ask the farmers (and co-op) about their work and why feeding Vermont kids with Vermont food is so important.
The Vermont Food Hub Collaborative L3C, dba Vermont Way Foods™ (VWF) has hired Matt Landi as Director of Brand and Business Development. Landi will launch the VWF brand and build demand through strategic market development. Landi will pursue opportunities to drive market growth that supports the brand’s mission of growing and distributing food the Vermont way in order to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for all Vermont farmers and food makers.
Landi brings with him more than 20 years of management experience in the food sector, a time spent wholly focused on working with purpose and mission-driven companies, and with a drive for supporting equitable and natural resource-conscious supply chains. Committed to the organic and natural foods trade, Landi has worked for a number of organic produce distributors and retailers alike, providing valuable strategic leadership and influence. Landi also has roots in Vermont, holding a B.A. in Political Science/Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont.
Prior to joining VWF, Landi’s time on the west coast included, most recently, as Vice President and General Manager of Awe Sum Organics in Santa Cruz, CA, and Director of Sales at Organically Grown Company in Portland, OR. Early in his career he also held a role locally with Onion River Cooperative in Burlington, VT. Other leadership endeavors that Landi focuses on are serving as chair of the Board of Directors for the Organic Materials Review Institute in Eugene, Oregon, and Co-Chair of the Sustainable Food Trade Action Council of the Organic Trade Association (OTA).
Landi said “I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the food and agriculture sector over the last two decades from such a diversity of vantage points, from highly localized organic supply chains to organic trade on a global scale. I’m incredibly honored to be able to come back home to New England, which is where it all started for me, to go to work for farmers and producers across Vermont, joining forces with so many great folks that are already engaged in this work and have really led the way. The Vermont Way Foods™ tagline of “Food with a Compass” is one that speaks volumes to me and I hope translates well to eaters across the region!”
Get in touch with Matt Landi at (831) 818-0179 or matt@vermontwayfoods.com
The Vermont Food Hub Collaborative (VFHC) L3C was founded by a group of four VT-based nonprofit farm and food organizations (Intervale Center, Food Connects, The Center for an Agricultural Economy, and Green Mountain Farm-to-School) with the goal of operating a transactional network for effective and efficient food aggregation, logistics, and distribution. The VFHC has developed the Vermont Way Foods™ brand to create new market opportunities for Vermont producers in support of a robust and vibrant farm and food economy. Learn more at https://www.vermontwayfoods.com/.