Food Connects' Executive Director, Richard Berkfield, spoke about cultivating change at the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporations Annual Meeting on September 15th, 2022. Read Richard's full speech.
Vermont Way Foods: A Catalyst for Change
More than just a farm, Scott Farm is a piece of Vermont history. The farm, nestled in the woods of Dummerston, Vermont, boasts a 231-year history of innovative agriculture and social responsibility. It’s not unusual to see tourists and Vermonters picking peaches in the summer or apples in the fall from their orchards, some planted in the early 20th century, with over 130 heirloom varieties. Like so many farms, Scott Farm was hit hard by the pandemic, shutting down many public offerings like educational and informational workshops and Pick-Your-Own services. And like many farms, Scott relied on agritourism to keep the farm operating, but folks weren’t coming out as before.
When Food Connects, The Intervale Center, Green Mountain Farm Direct, and The Center for Agricultural Economy formed the Vermont Food Hub Collaborative (VFHC), they thought of businesses like Scott Farm. In 2020 VFHC created Vermont Way Foods (VWF), 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.
We sat down with Matt Landi, Director of Brand and Business Development for Vermont Way Foods, to talk about the history of this unique collaboration. And to learn how VWF will support Scott Farm and many other Vermont small food and farm businesses while building a regional food system that reflects Vermont values and returns wealth to Vermont’s rural communities.
“By localizing the supply chain and diving into retail merchandising strategy in a more structured, cohesive fashion, you’re offering small farms the opportunity to participate in merchandising and promotional programs typically offered primarily by national distributors.”
Food Connects (FC): Thanks much for talking with us, Matt. Can you tell us a little bit about the work you’ve been doing with the Vermont Food Hub Collaborative and Vermont Way Foods?
Matt Landi (ML): Yeah, of course! Thanks for this opportunity to talk about Vermont Way Foods. It’s a project I’m really excited to be involved with, especially right now.
For decades, the four organizations that comprise the VFHC have worked in Vermont, supporting farm viability and food access and creating experiences for people to engage in the food system. In 2020, the four food hubs saw $6 million in cumulative local food sales. By working together, sharing infrastructure, connections, and decades of expertise, VFHC will have an exponentially more significant impact on Vermont’s food system—carving out opportunities for Vermont producers who are poised to grow their businesses and meet the regional need for local, sustainably produced food. Trying to compete as a small producer is tough. Of the many challenges, effective logistics, overall capacity, and a competitive cost structure are key areas of focus as the business scales. The cost is probably much higher if you are selling 20 lb boxes compared to 40 lb boxes because you have a specialty product, and it costs more to get it where it’s going. The VFHC is essential in supporting our logistical service proposition, vital to survival, growth, and differentiation.
FC: Can you tell us a little bit about Vermont Ways Foods' impact on small businesses like Scott Farm?
ML: Scott Farm is a perfect example of a unique branding opportunity. No one else grows what they grow. They are dealing with antique varieties, it’s a multi-generational eating experience, and that’s a compelling story to tell the conscious consumer. If they had a big marketing department and a lot of money to invest, they could plaster marketing on a huge level. But they are a small operation, focusing on growing their heirloom apples, among other produce, as they should. Many are also rare because they are an outright challenge to grow. It’s very difficult to predict the crop's appearance year to year in a micro/variety by variety level.
The orchard is a living organism.
Heirloom apples aren’t uniquely Vermont, but they fit the mold of Vermont Way Foods. The VFHC is on a mission to help regional consumers find the foods and experiences they crave while helping to build a more just and sustainable food economy for Vermont. A food economy where our lands are working, ecological resources are sustainably managed, rural economies are flourishing, and our state’s food and farm culture continues to perform as a great economic multiplier for our tourism economy, small towns, and quality of life. VWF is the sustainable alternative to a global food market that incentivizes bigger, faster, cheaper, and easier.
Monadnock Children’s Food Access Alliance wins grant to assemble a food access plan”
Keene, NH – New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation awards the County of Cheshire a $20,000 grant to fiscal sponsor a project with Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition (MFCC) and Healthy Monadnock, who will form the Monadnock Children’s Food Access Alliance. The Alliance will regularly assemble during 2021 to work towards a long term goal to improve the overall health of children in the Monadnock region.
The Alliance’s key objective is to identify opportunities for children and families to access affordable healthy food and increase participation in programs. This will be accomplished by conducting a comprehensive analysis of assets and gaps in present children’s food security programs, coordinating existing services and programs to increase program efficiencies, convening stakeholders (e.g., focus groups, listening sessions) to examine data and information, co-designing a plan with community members to fill identified gaps in programs and services, and enabling community members to access existing programs. Success of this project will mean that children in the Monadnock region have excellent health and easy access to nutritious food, regardless of their economic or family status.
The intent of this project is to help leaders design effective programs. Presently, food security and access programs in the Monadnock region are underused and little data exists as to why that is or if vulnerable people know about resources and assistance available. Numerous anecdotes in the region from school professionals and medical providers reference families cutting back or going into debt to feed their kids. Yet programs like SNAP, Granite State Market Match, and EBT benefits are underutilized. The region's food access providers and public health officials will be better positioned to help these people if they had more information about the people who need services and their barriers to accessing those services.
MFCC is the ideal organization to lead efforts to closely examine the local food system because it works with about 140 members to cultivate community action, connect people to resources, and foster relationships that benefit local farmers and public health. According to Roe-Ann Tasoulas, MFCC director, “Three of the Coalition’s goals tie directly into this effort: increase food production and consumption in the region, and provide resources and encourage advocacy for an equitable food system. Our members are passionate about healthy food and making it available to all Monadnock residents.”
Healthy Monadnock and Cheshire Medical Center’s Center for Population Health will support the Coalition’s efforts and provide technical assistance, network connections, and use of the Healthy Monadnock brand. It provides education and advocacy, oversight for public health projects, and supports the implementation of the Community Health Improvement Plan. Cheshire County government will provide fiscal sponsorship, and will manage the contractual aspect of the grant award and its subcontracts.
“Being a part of bring this project to fruition is what our work is all about,” says Tricia Zahn, Center for Population Health and MFCC board member. “It is energizing to know so many people in the Monadnock Region are passionate about food access improvements and to have our project ideas validated by an external competitive funder is no small feat.”
Funding for this project was made possible by the New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation through a competitive application program for reducing food insecurity in children and families by increasing access to affordable healthy food.
The Alliance seeks stakeholder participation at their meetings and other various stages of the planning project. To sign up or for more information, contact Roe-Ann Tasoulas, MFCC Director at coordinator@mfccoalition.org or 802.271.4191