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Meet Our New Farm to School Program Manager—Sadie Hunter

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Food Connects is excited to introduce Sadie Hunter as the newest member of the Farm to School (FTS) team. Sadie joins the team as the new Farm to School Program Manager. Sadie brings with her valuable experience in curriculum development, grant management, and fresh energy.

Sadie took time to answer some questions so you can get to know her better!

What sparked your interest in Food Connects and why are you excited to be here?

I am super passionate about farm-based education and Farm to School work, so when I saw that Food Connects was hiring I was really excited. I am so grateful to join the thriving Farm to School community here in Vermont and to be a part of Food Connects in general because what this organization is doing is so well aligned with my own passions and goals. In my experience, learning about food systems is very intuitive for children, and I think that this kind of learning really empowers kids to continue asking questions and learning about the world around them.  

Why is the local food movement important to you?

It is becoming more and more important for us to get serious about consuming locally grown, ideally in season, foods as we continue to see the impacts of climate change. It is not only better for the environment for us to eat local, but it also creates stronger local economies and allows people to be more invested in the places in which they live. Additionally, it is so important to acknowledge the fact that often there are many people and communities that are left out of this narrative. I believe that making local food movements more financially, physically, and culturally accessible for everyone is a crucial step in addressing inequity in our food system, and in our country overall. 

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

I would love to see our Farm to School program continue to expand—specifically I see opportunities for us to provide support in Bennington and in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. The more kids who get the opportunity to play in the dirt (and learn about/grow food in the process) at school the better! I am also passionate about supporting BIPOC farmers and educators in this field and I am really looking forward to seeing what new ways we can continue to incorporate considerations of equity and food justice into our daily work.

How will your previous Farm to School and education experience impact your work at Food Connects?

I think that my work experience lends itself really well to the work I will be doing here at Food Connects. I have spent time as an educator in both afterschool and more traditional classroom settings, which gives me a good understanding of the struggles that teachers and youth-serving organizations face—and also a good understanding of the massive joy that is working with children. In some of these roles, I created STEM curriculum that was centered around garden-based learning and incorporated different levels of discussion around food justice and nutrition. I have also worked on vegetable farms and in food and beverage services which I find gives me a unique perspective when looking at how we can strengthen community relationships and support many different stakeholders in our communities.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

I love to hike, garden and play board games! I am also really interested in learning more about herbs as medicine and enjoy making herbal tinctures in my free time.

What is your favorite or least favorite food?

I love anything stir-fry-related—it’s so versatile!

If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?

I think I would choose to become instantly fluent in Spanish - I took many years of Spanish classes, but I have always struggled to keep my proficiency.

What’s your favorite place of all the places you’ve traveled?

That’s really tricky, but I would say Antigua, Guatemala! I was surrounded by super great people—and of course volcanoes, which was amazing for a geology nerd like me. I also loved the lakes, mountains, and architecture—beautiful colors everywhere you look. 

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Meet Our New Farm to School Coach—Jenny Kessler

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Food Connects is excited to introduce Jenny Kessler as the newest member of the Farm to School (FTS) team. Jenny joins the team as the newest Farm to School Coach. Jenny previously worked as an educator in NYC for 13 years, where she integrated Farm to School throughout her curriculum.

Jenny took some time to answer some of our questions, so you could get to know her better!

What sparked your interest in Food Connects and why are you excited to be here?

Working as an educator in NYC for 13 years, I integrated FTS projects and curriculum wherever possible. I noticed right away that my high school students were always asking about my experiences working on farms, being a vegetarian, and raising chickens in the city. These questions deserved more time than a quick chat in the hallway. Kids are curious about the real world, and it doesn’t get any more real than the food we put into our bodies every day. FTS can allow students the time and space to dive deeper into the complex questions of where food comes from, why we eat the things we do, and who benefits from these choices. But equally important, it allows students time to work with their hands, be outside, work with real tools, be exposed to new foods, and have a voice in what they grow and feed themselves. I believe these to be essential learning experiences that sometimes get overlooked in the traditional American classroom. 

FTS is at the center of all the issues I’m most passionate about—sustainability, education, and social justice issues. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a job where I can integrate all of these topics into my daily work. 

Why is the local food movement important to you?

There are so many reasons to get behind local food—supporting farmers, making fresher and healthier food available to everyone, putting more power in the hands of individuals rather than corporations, sustainability, and energy savings, and because I love seeing and visiting small farms. 

Working with small farmers in Belize, I learned how important small farms were to cultural and ecological preservation. And saw how finding a market for local products enabled Mayan families to thrive in their communities and on their land.  In each of the places I’ve lived (and there have been many!) it was abundantly clear how important local food is. It connects people to their land, their culture, and their communities, and it’s under threat everywhere. Local farmers are the heart of a thriving community. 

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

My hope is to support school staff, food service directors (FSDs), and administrators in doing the work they’ve begun, to celebrate that work, and to make it easier for them to do more. I also hope to expand the reach of FTS to reach more students and more communities, including the West River Valley where I live. 

I’d love to continue to build on the sharing and networking that Food Connects has already started—making it easier for our Garden Coordinators, administrators, and FSDs to connect with and learn from each other. As a teacher, learning from my colleagues and visiting other schools was the most valuable experience in my own professional development. 

How will your previous Farm to School and education experience impact your work at Food Connects?

In my previous teaching career, I was able to see the direct impact of FTS activities. I’ve had high school students who had never tasted a raspberry, 4th grade students who were amazed the first time they tasted real maple syrup, and watched many of my students who were least engaged in the classroom become leaders and role models during FTS activities.

But, I’m also very familiar with how incredibly difficult it can be to integrate anything new or “extra” into the teaching day. Teachers, administrators, and Food Service Professionals need support and encouragement, and time! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to figure out creative ways for them to practice FTS that make their lives feel easier, rather than more difficult.  

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Exploring Vermont, gardening and cooking with my son, battling woodchucks and slugs, watching our hilarious flock of chickens, local hikes and walks, fixing up our very very old house, antiquing, and of course, taking trips back to NY to eat all the amazingly delicious food you can find from every corner of the world. Oh, and sitting on the floor in front of our woodstoves all winter—a woodstove is such a luxury to a Brooklynite. 

What is your favorite or least favorite food?

Could never have a favorite.  Ice cream, cheese, fresh-baked bread, salads…

What are three things still left on your bucket list?

I have a Vermont bucket list which includes: buying and using cross country skis, hiking at least some of the Long Trail, visiting the Northeast Kingdom, and camping on/biking around the Champlain Islands.  

Moving to the country was something on my bucket list for years, and I can finally check that off! 

Meet Our New Farm to School Program Manager—Conor Floyd

Food Connects is pleased to welcome Conor Floyd to our team as our new Farm to School Program Manager. A Brattleboro resident, Conor comes to Food Connects with a strong background in program development and project-based learning. Conor is very interested in the collaborative work Food Connects is doing throughout the area and is excited to be able to connect with school professionals all over Southeastern Vermont.

Conor feels that Farm to School work is a holistic way to foster stronger connections within the school and the larger community. “It positively impacts every facet of school life through a common thread. Oftentimes Farm to School programming is most beneficial to those students who struggle or are most in need; whether that is in the classroom or community through hands-on activities or creating healthier and more accessible food options for food-insecure students.” Conor aims to make Farm to School accessible to all.

Conor has a wide variety of volunteer and working aboard experience as well, including teaching aboard in Andorra. We are excited for these experiences to inform our work at Food Connects. “What I’ve learned most from my Restorative Justice work and abroad experiences is the diversity of perspectives and experiences that exist. Whether that’s in relation to people's traditions around food, their lifestyle choices, or how they approach novel problems. These experiences have helped open my mind to different ways of living, working, and collaborating.”

Now to the fun stuff: When not at Food Connects, Conor likes to read, go to coffee shops, and read in said coffee shops and has a heart for the outdoors, especially hiking. If it were habitable, he’d like to live on Jupiter, just to see what life on a gaseous planet was life. His favorite foods are BBQ, but loves to make pad-thai at home. And, in true Farm to School fashion, he wanted to be a teacher when he was little.

Please join us in welcoming Conor to our team!

Understanding Our Agricultural History

Written by Laura Carbonneau, Food Connects Communications and Development Manager

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We all have stories that connect us with food. They could be cooking with family members, meals with friends, or perhaps growing your own food. In my work at Food Connects it is my job to tell the stories of local farmers, food producers, our customers dedicated to local food, and schools committed to Farm to School programming. 

Telling the stories of these impactful organizations comes easy. The more I write and share, the more reflective I become about my own food story and connections to agriculture. I have been acutely involved in food systems since 2008—before I had even graduated from college. My passions have always included food and agriculture and the influences of it on my life have been profound. It would be easy for me to tell you a beautifully painted picture of my work in food systems, the places I have traveled to so I could study food and food systems, or my personal endeavors in growing and producing my own food. But I have a deeper, more historical connection to agriculture that I would be remiss if I did not share it with you.

Painting of the Mayflower.

Painting of the Mayflower.

My family has “old American blood.” My family lineage, through my maternal grandmother, can be traced back to the Pilgrims from England. I am related to the Alden, Cooke, Soule, Mullins, Warren, and Rogers families who came over on the Mayflower, as well as numerous other individuals who came on the Fortune, Elizabeth and Ann, and subsequent voyages.

So… what does that have to do with food and agriculture now?

A lot.

As an individual who is passionate about food justice, I carry with me immense historical guilt. The first English settlers in New England had enormous ecological, social, and agricultural impacts on the land and indigenous people. Those who settled in the Plymouth Colony and those who followed and spread across New England changed the face of the landscape and how the Wampanoag and other indigenous peoples lived. 

It is commonly known that the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower were ill-equipped for settling in a new land. Based on the inaccuracies of maps at the time, they believed that where the ship would land was a much warmer climate than their homes in England. They landed just before the cold of a New England winter hit and many did not survive the first winter. To survive, many Pilgrims raided Wampanoag food stores and graves, which also stored food. This act of survival was an early example of a supremacist, colonist mentality—there was no thought of respect for the traditions of the Wampanoags, only the focus on self-preservation. 

Drawing of the Pilgrims with Tisquantum.

Drawing of the Pilgrims with Tisquantum.

That first spring the Pilgrims relied on the knowledge Tisquantum (more commonly known as Squanto) to teach them how to better use the natural resources at their disposal. Tisquantum aided them in trade between the various leaders of the Wampanoag Confederation. The first ship of European settlers worked with Tisquantum and others but as more and more ships arrived it was easier to ignore the treaties made with different tribes. And as the settlers brought over more guns and disease, they found themselves increasingly in a position of power—both causing the deaths of so many indigenous people.

A striking difference between the two cultures was their way of obtaining food. The Wampanoag tribes knew how to work in harmony with the seasons and had an intimate knowledge of the habits and ecology of the different species of the region. They were flexible, nimble, and mobile in their relationships with food and nature. The European settlers did not understand or respect these traditions and practices. They brought something over that was just as destructive to the land as the disease was to the Wampanoag—agriculture and animal husbandry. This is starkly different than the hunter-gather society that existed. Royal charters from England drew boundaries that had no thought for the claims of the existing inhabitants and focused on the “improvement” of the land. The land was turned over, forests were destroyed, foreign foods and pests were introduced, and overhunting and overfishing occurred.

My family, who came over on the Mayflower, may have had the best intentions—they were looking for a home for their families away from religious persecution. But in doing so they created a chain reaction that changed the face of the landscape. The “us versus them” mentality inherent in their interactions with the Wampanoag people created a deep-seated feeling of superiority that paved the way for ideas like Manifest Destiny and that taking advantage of people who are “lesser” was not only okay but encouraged.

Drawing of Eli Whitney.

Drawing of Eli Whitney.

Fast forward about 170 years to meet my distant relative, Eli Whitney. He and I share a common ancestor, John Whitney Sr., who is my 10th great-grandfather and Eli’s 4th great-grandfather. Eli Whitney was an inventor and in his travels to the South, he worked with a benefactor, Phineas Miller, to create the cotton gin. Miller had come to Whitney, on behalf of his colleagues, to find a solution to improve the process of separating the cotton lint from the seeds. Because of the long processing time, growing cotton was unprofitable in America and there was still a reliance on the import of cotton.

The cotton gin dramatically changed the agricultural economy of the South. Human processing of cotton could produce about one pound of cotton per day, but with the use of the cotton gin, that number increased 50 fold. Between the high demand for cotton, in English and New England textile industries, and the new ease with which cotton could be processed, growing cotton became much more appealing. The economy in the South grew, but not everyone benefited. The labor force of the South, African slaves, suffered the deepest wounds with the advent of this new technology. Slavery had started to become “unprofitable” and the cotton gin revived a dying market. The cotton gin replaced the labor necessary to process cotton, but not to grow and harvest it—slavery and cotton would be intertwined until slavery’s abolition, whether that was the intent of the gin or not.

Now, roughly 225 years later, here I am. And how do I resolve this historical guilt that lives inside me? As part of their survival and means of living, my ancestors changed the face of agriculture in America at the expense of Wampanoag and African people. My conflict comes from wanting to be immersed and proud of my family’s history because without them myself and many others would not be here, while at the same time I know that the pain they caused is still being felt by the descendants of those who were taken advantage of. And perhaps that is why I am pulled towards food justice and improving our food system for all. Writing about these stories has been painful and joyful at the same time and has ignited a passion in me to learn more about my family’s story with agriculture that goes beyond our beginnings in America. My hope is that my descendants can look back at my food history and be proud.

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Food Connects' Intern Carissa Brings Taste Tests and Sensory Activities to Summer Meals in Brattleboro

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Dietetic Intern. New Hampshire resident. Pennsylvania native. Penn State alumna. Future dietitian. Food lover. Travel enthusiast. Experimenter in the kitchen. Appreciator of fresh, local, flavorful food. Avid reader.

I’m Carissa, and these are a few things about me. For the past year, I’ve been living in New Hampshire, completing my dietetic internship in order to become a registered dietitian. Keene State College’s dietetic internship is community-focused and very individualized, allowing me the opportunity to create my own projects with Food Connects this summer. With inspiration from some amazing resources like VT Harvest of the Month, I developed a series of sensory activities and taste tests to conduct during service of summer meals at Retreat Farm on some Fridays.

These activities highlight fresh, in-season produce and herbs grown at Retreat Farm, with the goal of increasing kids’ exposure to, interest in, and preference for fresh fruits and vegetables. Taste tests give kids the opportunity to try a new food without the commitment of eating a full meal. Sensory activities give kids the chance to interact with new foods using all of their senses other than taste, such as touch, sight, and smell. It can take a while for a child to become comfortable with a new food and eventually enjoy eating it, so it is my hope that these activities help kids grow an appreciation for fresh fruits and vegetables! To experience it for yourself, bring your kiddos to Retreat Farm for a free lunch at 12 pm on Friday August 9 and 16.

Growing up in Lancaster County, PA, there was never a shortage of fresh produce during the summer. When I went to college and started learning about the many social injustices in our society and the many issues in our current food system, my passion for providing equitable access to healthy food and nutrition education emerged. I originally started studying nutrition out of personal interest in and love for food, but now my eyes were opened to the role I could play in building a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable food system as a dietitian. I don’t know what my career will look like or the exact jobs I’ll have, but my year in this internship has shown me that this work can be done many different ways. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Food Connects, learn from its work in food distribution, access and education, and support its mission. I can’t wait to see how it and organizations with similar goals and values around the world change our food system for the better.

Welcoming Our Summer Garden Coordinator

Food Connects extends a warm welcome to Tara Gordon—our new summer garden program coordinator for five area schools this summer (Academy School, Green Street School, Oak Grove School, Guilford Central School, and Vernon Elementary School). Tara is a mother of two, has a multidisciplinary background in the biological sciences, was the Garden Coordinator for Putney Central School for three years, and is now the Green Street School Garden Coordinator. Tara finds gardening to be a wonderful way to instill a sense of purpose, a practical way to grow awareness of our place in nature, a way to cultivate our curiosity and creativity as caregivers, and a way to develop a closer interrelationship with the natural world. She is looking forward to working in the gardens with students and families over the summer.

Summer garden care is a crucial part of a healthy school garden program. Without someone tending gardens over the summer, gardens get overgrown and underwatered, making the fall harvests smaller and the overall gardening experience less pleasant for students and teachers. This is the third year that Food Connects has offered this valuable service to schools. Some schools have been able to find funds within their existing budgets to “buy-in” to this program, however not all schools have been able to find funds even though they have the need. We are grateful to Rise VT for a grant this season which allows us to expand our program and serve the communities of Guilford and Vernon.