Food Hub

Plan Ahead for Deliveries of Fresh Winter Greens!

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We are excited to announce that Queen’s Greens is planning to keep growing their Winter Gem Salad Mix, Spinach, and Pea Shoots all winter long in their 19 unheated high tunnels!

These greens are all grown in the earth, with no added energy inputs. Queen’s Greens farmer Danya Teitelbaum describes it as feeling like a “winter-long miracle.”

Real-life miracles actually take a lot of hard work and planning, so it’s important to keep in mind that in comparison to the warmer seasons, the greens supply will be limited. We recommend that you place your orders early, preferably by the Friday before delivery, in order to reserve your inventory. Placing a standing weekly order with Food Connects is also a great way to reserve your greens.

If you’d like to place a standing order, please email orders@foodconnects.org. If you have a Queen’s Greens order for next week (12/14-18), please submit it today (12/11). Later orders will certainly be accepted, but can not be guaranteed.

Queen’s Greens will be closed for the holidays from 12/21/20 through 1/3/21, so next week is your last chance to order before January.

We’re looking forward to sharing fresh, delicious greens with you throughout all four seasons of 2021!

Electrifying Our Fleet

Food Connects is in the early stages of electrifying our vehicle fleet. Our hope is to replace the diesel options we have now with a more efficient and environmentally friendly option.

Over the past two months, we have tested electric vehicles to understand how and if they would work into our normal operations. This includes looking at where different charging stations are in relation to our route and how often and how long we would need to recharge.

We worked with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation to set up an electric vehicle charging station at the BDCC Business Park and submitted a grant application, in partnership with the Regenerative Food Network, to replace our largest truck with an electric truck.

We will continue to share progress and updates from this exciting project as we move forward! In the meantime… check out some of our photos from the test!

Producer Spotlight: Parish Hill Creamery

When we think of Vermont-made foods, dairy immediately comes to mind. And in what better form than delicious, raw-milk, hand-made cheese. That’s where Parish Hill Creamery comes in. Located in Westminster, Vermont, Parish Hill Creamery is one of our newer cheese producers and we are so excited to have their family be part of the Food Connects family! Peter Dixon and Rachel Fritz Schaal answered some of our questions we had about their creamery and their amazing cheese!

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How long have you been making cheese? And what inspired you to do so?

Peter made his first batches of cheese in 1983 at the Guilford Cheese Co., his family's cheese business in Guilford, VT. Rachel started making cheese when she and Peter started Parish Hill Creamery in 2013.

What makes your produce/products unique?

At Parish Hill Creamery, we make natural cheese. Raw milk—exclusively from grazing cows, traditional rennet, sea salt from Maine, and our own autochthonous cultures—propagated continuously with milk from Elm Lea Farm. Keeping to natural cheesemaking methods means making choices that inherently limit the scale of our production but also prevent the use of shortcuts and efficiencies that would deny the expression of our terroir.

We’re getting hungry!

We’re getting hungry!

What is your favorite pairing with your cheeses?

Reverie with pickles and rye crackers. Humble with quince paste. Jack's Blue with port or milk stout, or a drizzle of maple syrup. VT Herdsman melted in our fondue.

Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?

Buying and selling locally means supporting our neighbors, knowing that land and water are being protected from extractive practices, supporting good jobs, and receiving and providing nutritious foods. Our milk comes from Elm Lea Farm, where the cows graze hill farm pastures. The apples that we press into hard cider to wash Humble come from Green Mountain Orchards. We get the beer to wash the Hermit from Hermit Thrush Brewery.

How does working with Food Connects help your business/what are you excited about in this partnership?

It has been exciting to see our wheels and wedges in restaurants and farm shops in our area—and hearing from friends that they have been able to pick up a few wedges at their local farm shops.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?

Because we are seasonal, we won't be back at the vat until next May when (we hope!) the pastures will be lush with spring grass. We'll spend the winter making sales calls (virtually this year), working on the websites, and developing online workshops, and hopefully, Peter will finish up his memoir!

We are happy to hold Zoom meetings with any retailer or restauranteur interested in hearing more about what we do or wanting to do a virtual tasting of the cheeses.

Producer Spotlight: Ground Up

We are excited to introduce one of our newest producers: Ground Up. Andrea and Christian Stanley and Ben Roesch came together in 2010 to create Ground Up and together and continue to play a role in developing and supporting a local grain economy. Andrea took some time to answer our “get to know you” questions. Take a look!

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What makes your products unique?

The most unique aspect of our flour is that 100% of the grains we mill are grown by farmers in the Northeast. We know them all and we have been working with many of them for over 10 years now. Almost all of the flour used today in the US comes from farms thousands of miles away and are supporting an extractive economy, not a local, circular economy, which we believe is the building block of a sustainable food system.

Our New American Stone mill also makes our products unique. Stone mills allow for a slower, cooler breakdown of the grain starches. Additionally, we sift our flours in a way that allows bran and other nutrient-dense parts of the whole grain to be kept in the flour, while still getting white flour.

And finally, we mill fresh to order. All of our flour is made after an order is placed, so you can be sure you are getting the freshest flour possible.

What was the inspiration to start Ground Up Grains?

The Hungry Ghost in Northampton asked us if we would be willing to add a mill to our malting operation in the summer of 2018. They are our favorite local bakery and so we looked into it. We have been running Valley Malt since 2010, turning local grains into malt for breweries and distilleries. We figured milling was a great way to diversify our business and be another way we could provide opportunities for local farmers to grow more grains.

What is your favorite recipe to make with your grains?

We love pizza and made a pizza oven with our kids a few years back. I follow an NYT recipe for the dough. We love the ritual of getting the fire going in the oven and making the dough the day before.

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Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you? Are there any partnerships you want to highlight?

There is a lot about our world that we’d like to see change for the next generations. To make a real impact, we need to commit to the change we want to see. For us, this means supporting a revival of grain growing in the Northeast. Grains are such an important part of the human diet and they really add so much value to soil, water, and farmland. The first 10 years of this work have been challenging at times but we are starting to see some amazing progress and are committed to another 20+ years of working to make our food system in Northeast more self-sustaining. In doing this, we support farms who are struggling to find profitable crops to grow and we are providing fresh, healthy food for our neighbors. The Northeast Grainshed is a new organization we helped to start last year, it is the most exciting partnership of all the aspects of this grain economy from the wheat and barley breeders to the bars, bakeries, and restaurants that serve their local neighborhoods. One fun project of the Northeast Grainshed was to create a grain calculator so anyone could determine the impact of their grain consumption. Did you know that one 5 pound bag of flour, supports 97 square feet of local farmland? That is equal to 1/2 of a parking spot, so let’s get baking!

How does working with Food Connects help your business and what are you excited about in this new partnership?

Having partners that will market and distribute our flour and help to tell our story and the story of a localized food system is critical for our success. We all have unique and specialized roles to play and if each of us can exceed at our roles, we can make the lasting changes in our food system we are all working toward.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?

The thought of not having a 10 year anniversary in October 2020 for Valley Malt is a difficult one to swallow. So much bold sweat and tears were shed to make it for 10 years and our success is something we badly wanted to celebrate over beers with all our partners from the growers to the brewers and distillers.

We take the COVID-19 pandemic and public health very seriously and so there are no events to look forward to at the moment. When appropriate we will have an in-person 11 or 12-year anniversary party and it will be epic, you can be sure.

We are reworking our retail packaging. Sustainable packaging is really important to us and so we are sticking with our 100% cotton flour bags (Made in the USA) but we are adding other elements to improve how they sit on a shelf. We are partnering with local craft makers to repurpose any cotton bags that customers want to return to make beautiful rugs, bags, and other fiber arts. These will all be for sale on our website. Stay tuned!

And… We just got our second mill and are in the process of moving to Holyoke!

Meet Our New Food Hub Operations Coordinator—Deborah Sadler

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Food Connects is excited to welcome Deborah Sadler to their team as their new Food Hub Operations Coordinator. Deborah is the first in a series of new hires that will help Food Connects operations continue to grow. Deborah splits her time between coordinating pickup and delivery of Food Hub products and driving delivery routes. 

Deborah joined the Food Connects team in August after managing a goat dairy and creamery. In graduate school, she researched the effects of government policies on farmers’ ability to adapt to drought. Her passion for building local food systems and supporting farmworkers is a huge asset to the growing Food Hub team. Take some more time to learn more about Deborah today!

What interested you most about Food Connects and why are you excited to start working here?

I know how difficult it can be as a small producer to reach customers. Food Hubs offer an important connection for producers to access larger markets. I'm excited to be a part of strengthening our local food system!

Why is the local food movement important to you?

Community has always been based around food, our most essential need. Local food systems are the ultimate way to build community, especially in an increasingly disconnected world! With non-local foods, mistreatment of the land, ecosystem, and farmworkers is often out of sight, out of mind. Local farmers and producers are personally invested in the effects their businesses have on their neighbors. Local farmers who live in the communities they feed want to preserve and improve their soil and water resources. Local producers can see and address inequities in the food system that is overlooked by national brands and chains. When individuals, restaurants, and institutions buy local food, they are voting with their dollar to keep their money locally and to support their neighbors. And of course, fresh local food just plain tastes better!

What do you see for the future of Food Connects and what you will do here? What are your hopes/dreams for this position?

The Food Connects Food Hub is in a period of growth and is well-positioned to take on a leadership role in building a network of local food hubs throughout New England. As the new Food Hub General Operations Coordinator, I hope to help alleviate some of those growing pains with new, efficient systems that allow us to do our work more effectively!

How will your farming experience impact your work at Food Connects?

As a farmer, I understand many of the difficulties faced by local producers, and look forward to supporting them! Most recently, I have worked as a small dairy farm manager and cheesemaker, so I am used to wearing lots of hats and jumping in to do whatever is needed. I also believe farmers can serve as educators, to help teach consumers about the foods we provide.

Now for the fun ones!

What are your hobbies?

I enjoy hiking and backpacking, having hiked most of the Appalachian Trail. I am also a long-time runner and yogi. I enjoy the well-being of running, but will never win races. Creatively, I play piano, but not in public, and I write fiction that I hope to one day publish.

If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?

If it's not included in food, I would bring a pair of goats and raise goats for milk, cheese, meat, fiber. And a deserted island that I could populate with goats would be a lot more fun and interesting! Otherwise, could I bring a Kindle and a solar charger?

What is your favorite or least favorite food?

As a former dairy farmer and cheesemaker, I love cheese and ice cream! Brussel sprouts are a hard pass, on the other hand.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was maybe five to ten years old, I wanted to be a Paleontologist, and get to dig up dinosaur bones, or else be a Tiger Trainer, like Siegfried and Roy. Of course, this was well before Roy was attacked by a tiger onstage.

Who Grows Our Food: A Conversation with Mr. Henry

11.3% of farmwork in Vermont is accomplished by seasonal H-2A Temporary Visa farmworkers, a majority of whom are Jamaican—an estimated 400 individuals. Established in 1986 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the H-2A Visa Program allows agricultural businesses in the U.S. to hire temporary foreign workers for seasonal positions that they would have otherwise been unable to fill with domestic workers. 

Fall is just around the corner in Vermont. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped folks from visiting their favorite farm stands and orchards to go apple picking and finding the perfect pumpkin to carve. Local food is on everyone’s mind as bountiful harvests fill the shelves of local co-ops. And it wouldn’t be possible without the essential workers who grow our food—some native Vermonters and others traveling from worlds away to help our food system flourish. As part of Food Connects’ series highlighting how our food system connects us, especially in unseen ways, we sat down with Mr. Lionel Henry, Scott Farm Orchard crew leader, to learn more about his experience living and working in Vermont as part of the H-2A Temporary Visa Program during this global pandemic. 

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Mr. Henry, as he goes by, is from Thompson Town, Clarendon in Jamaica. Although Jamaica is his home, Mr. Henry has spent each summer since 1979 in the U.S. as part of the H-2A Visa Program. He’s cut sugar cane in Florida, grown tobacco in Connecticut, and harvested apples first at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole, NH, and now with Scott Farm Orchard in Dummerston, VT, where he’s been since 2001. Out of respect for Mr. Henry's rich cultural heritage in Jamaica, where Patois is the mother tongue, we have left his words intact as much as possible, even though we are aware that his style of speaking may seem unusual for readers who don't have much experience with Jamaican Patois. 

Farmworkers are essential to our local food systems, and H-2A Visa workers are heavily relied upon to help local farms, like Scott Farm Orchard, successfully operate from year to year. Many of the H-2A Visa workers have been coming to the same farms for many years and their historical knowledge of the farms is invaluable—they know the farm and the apples like the back of their hands. “Our boss need us to help,” says Mr. Henry. “So we have a lot of different varieties (of apples), lots of different varieties, and whenever time we down here and like your boss would like this variety here now to pick, he stay down here and send you up there, you have to know exactly where it is, the perfect row that you are going and get it.” 

And their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. At the end of the day, Mr. Henry feels like his work is valued and appreciated by the community—instilling a sense of pride and loyalty. “I really observe that a lot of these people care for us… and we also care for dem and love dem too and try to do great work (at the farm). Lots of people came here at the farm stand to buy, they always appreciate what we do, the good work, and lots of dem tell we ‘Thanks!’" 

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Mr. Henry is the leader of the crew and takes pride in the work he does each day. “I try to work very honestly, and work with dem (the crew) honestly, work with the boss honestly, yea, and try to doing a good job… they have a lots of respect for me, yea, because me have a lots of respect for dem."

So, how has COVID-19 impacted their work and travel? And what does it look like back home?

Concerns for his family in Jamaica are still strong. Since he came to Vermont in early July, the number of cases in Jamaica has doubled. Mr. Henry also noted that, like many in the U.S,  people in Jamaica are losing work. Back home he does farming—planting yams, bananas, and other crops so his family can bring them to the market. The pandemic, however, has slowed the process of selling their food. They’ve had to adapt to new ways of delivering food and must go less frequently. But, as Mr. Henry says, “people still have to eat!”

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And eat they must. Despite the challenges surrounding COVD-19, Mr. Henry still made the journey to Vermont this year. The H-2A Visa Program provides a vital income source for those who participate in it. Because of the money Mr. Henry earned through the program his daughter was able to go to university in Kingston, Jamaica. “So, you know, being as we have our family to take care of and we need some help, so we come and risk, try to risk ourself and try to, you know, do the best we can to keep social distance and everyting and safe.” And they come back each year to not only build themselves up back home but also with a sense of dedication to the crops and farm.

The high risk and the challenges surrounding COVID-19 has changed the experience this year. The journey from Jamaica to Vermont was different. Normally he would fly to Florida and take a bus up but this year they took the plane all the way to Manchester for safety reasons. Working day to day, they have to think about their safety and how to protect themselves. Like many of us, they must now social distance while working and frequently use hand-sanitizer—an added stressor to the already demanding nature of their work. And still, they came. "We come and risk...we have is this crop here and our boss need us to help." Farmers are able to turn to and rely on the H-2A workers in meaningful ways and that value and vulnerability creates a long lasting connection between two different cultures.

But it’s a risk Mr. Henry is willing to take. The unemployment rate in Jamaica is projected to reach 12% due to ramifications from COVID-19. Because there are no other options, some may turn to crime. So, does he recommend the program to the younger generations? Enthusiastically, yes. "We all encourage younger people if they can come in the H2 program and fi do this work because you know some of dem down there don't have a job and if they come here they get something to do...I mean you just work and make yourself be comfortable and you contact your people dem, back home, your family back home and make dem know that you alright and they alright. You just try to be comfortable in yourself."

The work he and other H-2A Visa workers do is not easy and requires sacrifices including time away from family and friends. Mr. Henry is grateful for the opportunity it provides, despite these challenges, and is motivated by the care the community shows for him. For now, we celebrate this interdependence between our local farms, much of the local food many us eat, and the Jamacains working hard to support us. "Lots of thanks, lots of thanks, lots of thanks, lots of thanks! Because if never this way (having H2A work), things were going to be worse...you have to put something to use...(so you) make yourself very comfortable with your family."

Photos Courtesy of Scott Farm Orchards.

Locally Rooted: Farms and Food in the Monadnock Region

As part of NH Eats Local Month the Monadnock International Film Festival (MONIFF), Monadnock Food Co-op (MFC), and Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition (MFCC) hosted a virtual screening of Locally Rooted—a locally produced documentary by 710 Main Films. Locally Rooted follows the story of four local farms and the impact that the Farm Fund, a partnership between MFC and the Cheshire County Conservation District (CCCD), has had on their farms.

Formed in 2017, the Farm Fund’s mission is to support local farmers in increasing sustainable food production and wholesale sales to contribute to a thriving local farm economy. The partnership between MFC and CCCD allows for a wide range of promotion and fundraising—through individual donations and the co-op’s Round It Up program. Farmers can apply to this local grant opportunity to help create vital infrastructure on their farms to continue to grow their business. The Farm Fund awarded over $59,000 in grants to 14 different farms, many of whom are Food Connects producers, since it began.

The film highlights the 2019 recipients of the Farm Fund and their infrastructure projects.

  • Archway Farm: Owned by Mark Florenz in Keene, NH, built a new walk-in freezer to store his own pasture-raised pork.

  • Echo Farm Puddings: Owned by sisters Beth and Courtney Hodge in Hinsdale, NH, updated their 20-year-old packaging machine for a more reliable and efficient machine that could add larger food service containers.

  • Tracie's Community Farm, LLC: Owned by Tracie Lock in Fitzwilliam, NH, added a 6-row seeder to increase productivity.

  • Manning Hill Farm: Owned by Sam Canonica and Sarah Costa in Winchester, NH, purchased a large, energy-efficient cooler to increase the storage capacity of their grass-fed milk.

The Locally Rooted event boasted a vibrant panel discussion with Mark Florenz, Beth Hodge, Jack Rixey (manager of Tracie’s Community Farm), and Greg Pregent, 710 Main Films filmmaker. One of the strongest points of discussion was how the process and details of this particular grant are helpful and different from other grant opportunities. The grant is easy to apply to, opening in late fall every year. And it is extremely flexible—there is a “tendency of a project to fit the grant” says Mark, versus.actully fitting the goals and needs of a farm. When Echo Farm was unsure about whether or not to purchase the new packaging machine, the infrastructure they knew they needed, the grant helped them take that plunge and on their terms.

This grant is unique for farmers, Beth noted, because it focuses on infrastructure, while other grants they come across are typically for marketing and development. “This program does an excellent job nudging farm on the cusp,” said Mark, helping scale-up small to medium-sized farms that will drive our local farm economy.

And local food increasingly at the forefront of community members’ minds. It is “very telling that most people turned to local farms (during COVID-19)” says Jack. Tracie’s Community Farm saw many new customers “come into the fold.” While not all may continue to purchase locally as their main source of food it is the foundation for future relationships. At Food Connects, our sales are increasing dramatically throughout the pandemic. Local food sales not only strengthen our local economy but also create more opportunities for community building and collaboration.

And the growth of these farms doesn’t stop here. There is a wide wishlist, from dry storage to alternative energy that will help fortify their positions in the local food market. Beth put it perfectly, that there’s “gotta be ways we can help each other,” through increased community partnerships and support for local businesses. We are excited to collaborate and grow with these farms and look forward to seeing the recipients for 2021!

5 Ways You Can Help Your Community With Food

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The current pandemic has exacerbated inequalities across the board, and the unfortunate truth is that it looks like we'll have to deal with this situation for longer than expected. As such, organizations like the Vermont Community Foundation are spearheading campaigns to serve those who are in extreme need at this time, with projects ranging from supporting small businesses to expanding internet access to poorly-serviced areas.

Community organizations are not just the only people who can help out—everyday volunteers can make huge impacts in their own communities. And because everyone needs food to survive, addressing this need is the perfect way for people to get involved. Keep reading below for five ways you can help serve your community through food.

Run food drives

Organizing a food drive is one of the most meaningful things you can do at this time. You can choose to partner with local vendors who may want to donate some of their produce or food items, but you can also just reach out to fellow neighbors and see if they'd like to pitch in and buy some groceries for those in need. These food drives can include some fresh produce, canned goods, and staples like bread or rice. From there, you can spend a day or two packing care boxes that you can then distribute to families across the area.

Volunteer at food banks

You might not have enough time to organize your own food drive, so it's worth talking to your local food banks and seeing if they need your help. See if you can carve out a bit of time per week to volunteer. Whether it's helping sort out food or delivering the items to people in need, it's important to find out ways that you can help out on a regular basis. After all, volunteering is all about consistency.

Soup kitchens

Once you get enough volunteers to both source groceries and prepare meals, organizing a soup kitchen should be relatively easy. The key to feeding lots of people great food is relying on the right equipment like rice cookers: quality makers are extremely versatile, as is rice itself. Today's rice cookers can also keep your food warm for long stretches of time, allowing you to serve more people. From rice pudding to home-cooked meals on top of rice, these filling dishes will be more than appreciated by those in need.

Community gardens

People are looking for new hobbies to try out during quarantine, so why not try urban farming? A lot of love and labor goes into growing the produce we enjoy, and establishing urban farms allows you to see just how much work goes into growing crops. Again, partnering with local farmers also shows them that you value their work and are interested in finding ways that you can help them out too.

Patronizing local restaurants

A report by WCAX-TV notes that local restaurants getting ready to open up and accept patrons again, but these efforts will only be successful if there are customers to patronize them in the first place. If you're unwilling to risk going outside and dining in, lots of restaurants are also opening up takeaway services that you can also avail of. Showing continued support for local restaurants will encourage even more of them to open up again.

Food insecurity is a problem that's been around even prior to the pandemic, so it's no surprise that families who were having a hard time before are struggling even more now. Trying out any of these five solutions can help address this problem in a community-centered way. Food is the way to the heart, and so it's also a way to extend your care to people in need.

Thank you to our guest writer.

Written by: Jolie Baylin

Written for: foodconnects.org

Producer Spotlight: Mi Tierra Tortillas

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Have you ever had one of those perfectly warmed corn tortillas? Full of flavor? We have and they’re from Mi Tierra Tortillas. Co-owners, Jorge Sosa and Michael Docter, met an interesting way: Michael, a farmer, was a patron at the Mi Tierra restaurant in Hadley, MA that Jorge and Dora ran. Jorge and Michael came together in 2013 to bring high-quality tortillas that used fresh, local corn to the community. Michael took some time to share more about the business with us. Read more!

What makes your produce/products unique?

We bake our tortillas fresh from local and organic corn that is raised here in the Connecticut River Valley. We utilize the ancient Nixtamalization technique that has been used by the early inhabitants of North and Central America for the last few thousand years. Our recipe has been in Dora and Jorge's family for generations.

What is your favorite recipe to eat with your tortillas? Anything out of the ordinary?

At our house, we put just about anything on a tortilla and call it "Flex-Mex". Butternut squash, sauteed mushrooms, quick-pickled daikon radish. If there is something good in the fridge, it is going to be better on a toasted tortilla. Here is my son Jesse Docter's Chicken Tinga recipe. It's incredible!

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Why is selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?

I started the Food Bank Farm in 1990. Since that time, the Hadley farm has donated over 200,000 lbs of organic produce to those in need every year. By localizing the food supply, we help make sure that everybody has access to good, healthy food. Local food also reduces our carbon footprint because it uses only a fraction of the fuel compared to the global food supply chain.

How does working with Food Connects help your business?

Food Connects has been an incredible partner by helping us find customers that love good tortillas and want to support local businesses. Food Connects has gone above and beyond to mesh their distribution system so that customers can get fresh tortillas on the day they are baked. The fact that the Vermont Food Bank is right next door to Food Connects means we can fulfill our mission of getting food to those in need at the same time.

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Food Connects Builds Food Security Alongside Economic Recovery and Resiliency

Food Connects continues to grow despite COVID-19 food supply chain disruption, proving the value of local food systems for resiliency and economic recovery.

Food Connects raised over $700,000 in grants over the last six months to increase community food security, allowing the organization to step into a larger leadership role in the regional food economy. We saw our food sales more than double since the pandemic struck, highlighting the rising demand for fresh, local food.

A combination of federal, private foundation, and corporate grants will add capacity to Food Connects’ local food distribution system. These projects are critical for food security and economic recovery. The most recent, $184,250 from the Northern Borders Regional Commission, will fund further infrastructure development—including cold storage, warehouse equipment, and a new refrigerated vehicle. These pieces are essential to our Food Hub’s ability to increase the capacity of 90 farms and food producers, enable producers to reach new markets within and outside of Vermont, and better address food insecurity in the region.

Current fleet of 3 vehicles.

Current fleet of 3 vehicles.

Over 10 other private and corporate grants totaling over $400,000, from organizations including the Vermont Community Foundation and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, helped Food Connects cover the cost of a new walk-in cooler, a fourth refrigerated truck, and three new staff members—growing the organization’s capacity to support local farmers and food producers.

Food Connects currently works with over 90 farms and food producers and over 135 wholesale customers. Our reach extends beyond the Brattleboro community, into the Keene and Peterborough areas of New Hampshire, the Bennington region, and the Upper and Pioneer Valleys, as well as to similar food hubs around New England. As a social enterprise, Food Connects focuses on making it easier for local food businesses to buy wholesale from local farms and food producers and on building shorter, more community-based supply chains that are less reliant on national or global networks and food suppliers. 

The funding from these generous organizations couldn’t have come at a better time. When the conventional national and international food supply chain struggled with disruptions and shortages that left many store shelves empty, Food Connects stepped in to offer our local, rural communities weekly deliveries of foods produced in our little slice of New England.

Food Connects saw its sales double since the pandemic hit and keeping up with the increasingly higher demand for local food requires more internal resources and improved infrastructure. “We are reaching our 2021 sales goals in 2020 and it has been a challenge to keep up with staffing, systems, and infrastructure needs,” says Executive Director and Founder Richard Berkfield. “We realize we are very privileged to have these problems of rapid growth while so many businesses are struggling or closing.”

The combination of grant funds allows us to hire three new positions—a Food Hub Operations Coordinator, Sales Associate, and Local Food Procurement Coordinator. This new capacity will improve internal operations to more efficiently serve more local farmers and food producers and develop new markets to a larger geographic area. With the addition of these new employees, the Food Connects team will have quadrupled in size in the past two years.

“It's a strange feeling to see all this growth during such a challenging time,” says Berkfield. “It's become clear that what we do really matters in response to supply chain disruption, food security, and building economic resilience and recovery. We are all feeling very proud of our work and grateful to be doing it, which lessens the emotional strain of day-to-day COVID-19 reality and future uncertainty.”  

Updated Delivery Schedule

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As you may remember, earlier this year Food Connects was running two regular order cycles each week. When the pandemic struck, we narrowed that down to one cycle per week, for both safety and operational reasons.

Although the future is still unknowable, we have emerged from the weeds somewhat, and customer demand has convinced us that it’s time to reinstate the second cycle.

Please note: These changes apply to main route customers only. If you are unsure whether or not you qualify, please reach out to us!

Beginning this Friday, 8/14: Regular Weekly Friday Deliveries!

For our central Windham and Cheshire county customers we will run Wednesday and Friday deliveries on a trial basis for the next few months. In the late fall we will evaluate the results and determine whether it’s worth continuing through the winter.

By offering customers more options to get food for the week we hope to be able to increase overall sales of local food to current customers and create more opportunities for us to build customer bases in new markets like the Pioneer Valley.

Our two weekly cycles will look like this:

Delivery Day: Wednesday Order Deadline: Monday, 10 am

Delivery Day: Friday Order Deadline: Wednesday, 10 am

EXCEPTIONS: 

  1. Mi Tierra Tortillas: Tortillas will be available for delivery only on Wednesdays.

  2. Bread: Bread orders are still due Friday at 11 am and bread will be available for delivery only on Wednesdays.

  3. Specialty cheeses: Cheese special orders will remain on a biweekly cycle, with orders due every other Tuesday at 10 am.

We’re excited about this opportunity to bring you additional fresh, local food on a more frequent basis! If you have any questions about this change, please reply to us at this email, or write Beth and Alex at sales@foodconnects.org

Thank you!

Producer Spotlight: Grateful Greens

Meet one of our newest producers—Grateful Greens! Based in Brattleboro, VT, Grateful Greens is a new business that approaches farming differently. With an all-indoor facility and highly nutrient-rich soil, their greens are out of this world and will be accessible year-round. They are developing their systems to be as self-sufficient as possible and to have the largest positive environmental impact by using solar, energy-efficient GREE heat pumps for climate control, developing a rainwater catchment system to water the plants they grow, using plant-based PLA for all of their packaging, and looking to improve

Owner James Mayer took some time to share about this new business and what makes them stand out!

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What makes your produce unique? Grateful Greens uses creative, low impact, indoor farming technology that utilizes solar, rainwater, eco-friendly systems, and Love. We grow in a nutrient-rich organic soil mix with organic seed from High Mowing Seeds to grow healthy, tasty, and extraordinarily sustainable crops, all year long.

What is your favorite product? Our Sunflower Greens! This is the first crop we're growing. The health benefits of sunflower greens are amazing. They're super nutrient-dense, and their flavor and appearance are so unique and pleasant!

Why is selling locally and the local food movement important to you? Strengthening the localization of our food systems is the main purpose of Grateful Greens! It is clear to us that local and proper food production and distribution are vitally important to the health of our selves, our local economies, and the Earth! Indoor farming is a valuable growing technique that can help us to be totally self-sufficient with our food needs, especially in the winter.

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How does working with Food Connects help your business and what are you excited about in this new partnership? Partnering with Food Connects was a great accomplishment for Grateful Greens! The work that Food Connects does is so valuable to us all right now, such as their leadership in the Farm to School movement, their immense support of local food producers, and their curbside ordering program. Their vision for "healthy families, thriving farms, and connected communities" aligns greatly with the purpose of Grateful Greens to empower the food system of the Northeast to become healthier and self-sufficient, year-round. Partnering has given us a great opportunity to offer our Sunflower Greens to many retail and food service organizations in New England. I am especially excited to provide our nourishing greens to our schools in the region! Everyone at Food Connects is so kind and helpful and it's clear that they want to help us succeed.

What inspired you to start Grateful Greens? What are some of your hopes for the future? I have always been entrepreneurial and a lover of nature at heart. Before I founded Grateful Greens, I was working on a project that made me money and was helping others but did not have the immense potential impact that I knew I wanted to make. I got the initial inspiration from a YouTube video about indoor farming. Something instantly clicked inside me and I felt "This is it!" Since then, the vision has expanded greatly: from growing some greens in my bedroom closet, to a project that has the support of a very talented team of Vermont innovators (Delta Vermont) and is on the path of providing immense value to the food system and health of the Northeast. My biggest hope for this project is to greatly increase the self-sufficiency and health of the Northeast food system and its people.

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Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products? We are talking with the arts organization Epsilon Spires to collaborate on offering events at their venue, where leaders in the local food movement can visit to educate and provoke thoughts and discussion around improving our food systems, as well as empowering ourselves and communities. We are also composting all the post-harvest root, stem, and used soil material to be reused in community projects that will hopefully unite, heal, and feed our communities. We have no solid plans yet, but I am hoping to create some type of permaculture farm/garden or similar projects in Brattleboro and surrounding areas. If an organization or individual has any ideas or would like to collaborate, please contact us!

How are you responding to the COVID-19 Crisis? We are participating in the CARES Act's "Everyone Eats" program, donating to the Vermont Foodbank regularly, and hope to supply Sunflower Greens for the Farmers To Families Food Box program.

Anything else you would like to share? We will be expanding soon (creating another location) to grow several other crops to be locally available year-round. Let us know what crops you'd like to be locally available and fresh year-round!

Who Grows Our Food: A Conversation with Police

11.3% of farmwork in Vermont is accomplished by seasonal H-2A Temporary Visa farmworkers, a majority of whom are Jamaican—an estimated 400 individuals. Established in 1986 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the H-2A Visa Program allows agricultural businesses in the U.S. to hire temporary foreign workers for seasonal positions that they would have otherwise been unable to fill with domestic workers. 

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It's summer in Vermont amidst a global pandemic but that hasn’t stopped folks from visiting their favorite farmstands and food co-ops to purchase local, seasonal produce they’ve waited all winter for. Armed with masks and hand sanitizer they peruse aisles of berries, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and greens—thankful for the bountiful harvest and those who are growing it. Who is growing our food? As part of Food Connects’ series highlighting our local food chain and those that make it possible, we sat down with Police, Harlow Farm’s dock master and local celebrity, to learn more about his experience living and working in Vermont as part of the H-2A temporary Visa program. 

Police is a yard-name, or nickname, for Gerald, who previously worked in Jamaica as a policeman, and has been making the trip from Jamaica to the United States on an H-2A Visa for over 30 years. When he’s back home in Jamaica, Police and his wife operate a shop where they sell bulk retail food items like flour, sugar, and cornmeal in addition to drinks and snacks, selling “Every likkle ting” says Police. 

Vermont farm workers in the H-2A Visa program cultivate the fields every day, rain or shine, helping to grow and harvest the produce we Vermonters take so much pride in. Harlow Farm, Dutton Farm, Green Mountain Orchards, and Scott Farm are a few of the local growers whose operations rely on Jamaican H-2A farm workers. The workers are appreciative and grateful to be here, to work hard, and to be able to build opportunities for loved ones back home—especially during a global pandemic. Many of Harlow’s workers have been making the annual trip for decades. According to Police “it’s just an every year routine—it's normal.” Just like farming it’s a seasonal cycle, they leave Jamaica in May, stay the summer in Vermont until the field’s reaping has slowed, and then travel back to Jamaica in October or November. A cycle that is undervalued by the current administration, which deemed H-2A Visa holders as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic while working to reduce their hourly wages. 

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Jamaicans on an H-2A Visa have a chance to work for an hourly wage that is not accessible in Jamaica. Reliable, well-paid work in Jamaica is like finding a needle in a haystack so the opportunity to work in the U.S. for half a year allows these workers to “make life much faster. It's like more easier and faster once you come here, that is if you put that hard-earned dollar to use,” says Police. A season’s wage could go towards building or buying a house, paying expensive school fees for children, or saving money for the future—something a majority of Jamaicans are unable to do. “The wages can’t balance (in Jamaica), sometimes your bills more than your wages… it’s a worldwide cry you know,” he adds. 

When asked if his wife was nervous about him traveling and working in the U.S. during the time of COVID-19, Police says, “well on this side (I feel safe)… I would say the people in Vermont are more cautious.” Back in early May, seventeen Jamaicans began their annual journey from Kingston, Jamaica to Harlow Farm in Westminster VT, a small portion of the ~4,600 H-2A Visa holding Jamaicans who travel to farms across the U.S. every year. Only this time, amid the global lockdown on international transportation, they boarded a plane chartered by the Department of Agriculture to ensure farms received crucial labor within the time-sensitive windows of agricultural production. 

For Police and his coworkers, this journey included three flights and a bus to reach their final destination. What sounds like a long trip, especially when wearing masks to protect against COVID-19, is quite short when compared to what the journey looked like 30 years ago. When Police made his first trip to the U.S. as part of the Seasonal Farm Workers Program, it was a three-day road trip via Greyhound Bus from Fort Lauderdale to Maine where he spent several years working on apple orchards before transitioning to vegetable production in Vermont. 

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This long road trip showed Police and other H-2A workers at the time the vastness of America. When asked about his first impression of the U.S. Police says, “It was like in the night when I get here and get on the Greyhound bus down in Florida... but in the morning when it start to bright and the place light up I think wow, this is America that people always longin and crave to come? Cause we were on the highway.” When asked what he expected, he continues, “Well, pretty pretty pretty place with less… we call it woodland back in Jamaica. We left bushes then and mountains and all that stuff… We try and tell them (young Jamaican farm workers) that, they can't know America like we do cause you just take a plane and take another plane but you don't stop at the airport, you just take another plane. And then you come to Bradley and drive come up, you know, so it's not seeing America like how we did.”

Rural Vermont is similar to the Jamaican countryside in its slower pace and rich green landscape. The farming, on the other hand, is quite different, with a majority of Jamaican farms being two and a half acres oftentimes situated on steep hillsides. Jamaican farmers rely on manual labor and hand tools such as forks and machetes to make the most of the land available. Police and I joked about attempting to drive the Harlow Farm tractors on Jamaican hillside farms, where they’d likely topple off the steep slope. Along with the differences in landscapes and tools, Jamaicans working in Vermont are exposed to many different crops; asparagus, lacinato kale, parsnips, and collards are unavailable from local street vendors and markets where most people do their shopping in Jamaica. The differences don’t stop there, “in Jamaica,” Police shares, “they don’t really farm like out of book like how they do here out of book… they do it like back in the days, like the Haitian stuff.” Not to say that Jamaican agriculture isn’t advancing, as an island in the Caribbean much of their agricultural focus is aimed on sustainable practices to deal with drought, crop blights, and effects of climate change.

What about life for Jamaican farm workers when they’re off the clock? In Jamaica, there are shops dotted across every community where music blasts all hours of the day, and “in the night people party,” Police shares with a smile. A stark contrast to the quiet nights in Vermont. When asked if the men at Harlow Farm missed the vibrant nightlife culture back home Police answers, “I don’t really believe so a hundred percent because you know they're working and that’s the best part of it, they're working… It's not home away from home, but you just have to make yourself comfortable. Work, come from work maybe cook and catch a shower,” then wake up and do it all over again. 

Jamaicans in the US on an H-2A Visa sacrifice time with loved ones back home, a country that’s just a tiny dot on the map but known across the world for its music and culture, to contribute to our local food system. When asked how Vermonters can support the Jamaican farm worker community Police responds, “So spread the word! They have been mingling with us over the years, so I guess they’re supposed to know what Jamaican culture is like… we don’t want no one to feel uncomfortable”.

As we enjoy the Vermont summer for all its worth, remember that the food you’re sharing with your family was grown with love by people working to take care of their families too. How can we actively support and engage with all parts of our community during the new normal of social distancing? Although unable to gather the way we normally would, we can show our appreciation and support by engaging with Jamaicans when we see them, proudly embracing them as a part of our community, and taking the time to learn about their culture. As always, one of the most important aspects of community engagement is leveraging our voice and right to vote, keeping updated on laws related to H-2A Visas, and choosing to support farm workers. 

Mary Bilecki is an Evacuated Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Before being evacuated due to COVID-19 in March, halfway through her two year service in Jamaica, she had been working with coffee farmers in Cascade, a community nestled in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica within the parish of Portland. Mary joined the Food Connects’ Food Hub team over the summer to help bring local food from Harlow Farm and other local food businesses to the community.

Producer Spotlight: Scott Farm Orchard

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If you’re traveling along Kipling Road in Dummerston, VT you may happen upon Scott Farm Orchard. The picturesque views of the orchard and farm buildings seem to take you back in time. And rightfully so. Scott Farm is owned by the Landmark Trust USA and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—farmers have actively farmed the land there since 1791. We chatted with Simon Renault, Scott Farm Orchard’s new General Manager, who was very excited to share with us what’s been happening on the farm this season.

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If you didn’t already know, the orchard boasts 130 different varieties of heirloom apples. It is incredible to imagine 130 different types of apples when our typical grocery stores may only carry up to 15 varieties! They also grow all kinds of interesting fruits like gooseberries, pawpaws, persimmons, delicious Japanese plums, peaches, pears, medlars—you name it! Their dedication to biodiversity and care for these heirloom varieties makes them stand apart.

And we can’t imagine having to pick a favorite, either for cooking or eating! “Calville Blanc is a favorite cooking apple, made famous by Julia Child's who recommended it in her Tarte Tatin (a french apple tart),” says Simon. “Reinne de Reinette is also a favorite. The delights of a Blue Pearmain were described with such poetry by Thoreau. Black Oxford is an old Maine heirloom with a mild flavor, hard as rock which helps it store well; its flavors enhance over the winter. “ There are just too many to choose from!

And we know that our community loves their heirloom products. “More than 80% of our crop stays with a 75 miles radius,'“ says Simon. “Scott Farm has a deep commitment to our local community. Providing our neighbors with healthy fruit is our main concern and motivation. Food Connects helps us by distributing some of our fruit and getting us in touch with many local institutions with whom we do not already have a working relationship.”

With new leadership, the farm is focusing on a few new initiatives. “One of the very interesting things we have been working on is taking a closer look at is the antioxidant properties of heirloom apples. Apples have been found to have very strong antioxidant activity, inhibit cancer cell proliferation, decrease lipid oxidation, and lower cholesterol. Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid, all of which are strong antioxidants. We have sent some of our oldest heirloom apples to labs to try to show the particular health properties of some of our apples. Particularly in this time of health crisis, it is very relevant for us to take a health lens on the work we do and consider that our number one priority.”

Not only are they expanding on their research efforts but their farm store is growing as well. “Our Farm Market has a much wider range of products this year. The current COVID-19 crisis pushed us to understand our market as a real service to our local community and we are delighted to be meeting that need.” Scott Farm Orchard, like many other farms we work with at Food Connects, is responding to the community need and demand for fresh, local food.

And they expanded their fall fruit CSA offering. “For 13 weeks, from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, CSA members will go home with a half peck of heirloom apples and other fruits. Every week they get to discover 2 different varieties of heirloom apples. Picking up a basket directly from the orchard (or at our other two pick up locations in Brattleboro and Putney) is a great way for people to shop for healthy nutritious food while staying safe.”

Scott Farm Orchard Is participating in Dig In Vermont’s Open Farm Week. Join them on August 13 and 15 for a virtual Hard Cider Tasting They are partnering with Eden Cider, a cidery based in Newport, Vermont that gets a lot of heirloom apples from us to make its harvest artisanal ciders.

So how do you do a virtual tasting? The way it works is that guests order a tasting kit from Eden Specialty Ciders (3 375ml bottles and a Scott farm glass) on their website and register for the tasting, then a zoom link will be sent via email. They encourage people to invite some friends or family and make it an event. The tasting will be guided by Eleanore, owner of Eden Specialty Ciders. Tastings include their dry cider (Brut Nature), an ice cider, and Siren Song Demi-sec. It promises to be really fun and a great voyage into the world of hard cider, for both the novice and the connoisseur.