Highlights of our work in 2015

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Message from Enid (NOFA Vermont’s executive director) »

Here are some highlights of our work in 2015:

9,168 — Acres brought into organic management by 37 producers newly certified by Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF), the certification program of NOFA Vermont, bringing the total to more than 110,000 acres.

1,500 — Number of limited-income Vermonters receiving community-supported agriculture shares through our Farm Share & Senior Farm Share Programs.

2,164 — Pizzas made with our mobile, wood-fired oven at 40 events statewide.

62 — Restaurants, co-ops, and food stores that supported the Farm Share Program through their participation in Share the Harvest, our annual fundraising event.

128 — Visits made to over 50 farms, providing production and business planning technical assistance.

95 — Classrooms that received seasonal letters from 60 farmers participating in our Farmer Correspondence Program.

48 — Farmers markets that have electronic benefits transfer (EBT) capability enabling low-income Vermonters to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.

2,039 — Farmers, gardeners, and food lovers who attended over 30 summer workshops and our annual Winter Conference.

 

How to DOUBLE your 3SquaresVT benefits

There is a new currency circulating through farmers markets in Vermont. This currency, called Crop Cash, is the double value coupon incentive program promoting the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables at the farmers markets with 3SquaresVT benefits.

Crop Cash is available at all farmers markets in the state currently authorized to accept EBT and Debit cards (for a complete list of participating farmers markets, please click here).

1. Go to a participating farmers market. Find one here: http://nofavt.org/cropcash/farmersmarkets

2. Look for the market’s information booth or the yellow banner.

3. Let the person running the machine know how much 3SquaresVT you’d like to spend and swipe your EBT card.

4. Get $1 tokens and bonus $1 Crop Cash (up to $10).

5. Use your Crop Cash to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

6. Come back next week and do it all again!

More information about Crop Cash »

Meet the Farmers At Your Farmers Market

Farmers markets provide an excellent opportunity to meet a variety of growers that produce your food all in one place! To celebrate National Farmers Market Week, several farmers markets are hosting special events as part of Open Farm Week: August 3-9. With the tours, scavenger hunts, cooking demos, and hands-on activities, you’ll find new reasons to love your local Farmers Markets.

Farmers markets are one of the best places to pick up your groceries for the week and learn the story behind the food. When you buy direct from a farmers market, you get competitive prices, a wide variety of products, and a festive community environment. These markets are a great way for organic, local, and seasonal products to be brought to your neighborhood. From fruits and vegetables, meats, and cheeses to baked goods, prepared foods, and arts and crafts, farmers markets have just about everything you need!

Consider visiting a different farmers market as part of Open Farm Week, or incorporating a trip to the farmers market into your weekly routine – turning your grocery shopping into a chance to spend time with family, run into friends, and get to know local farmers.

Search through over sixty Farmers Markets to find one near you, and make sure to visit DigIn Vermont for a complete list of activities for Open Farm Week.

Attention CSA Farmers!

NOFA- VT is requesting your input through our ANNUAL CSA SURVEY. We use this information to update the CSA directory on our website and to determine the economic value of CSAs to Vermont agriculture.  This data is aggregated with others’ responses and used in testimony to the Vermont legislature, to compile a report on the success and current status of CSAs in Vermont, and inform our CSA work and advocacy strategies. Check out our report based on last year’s survey: Vermont CSA Report – 2013.

Please note that our policy is to offer CSA directory listings to farms that are either certified organic through Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) or are members of NOFA-VT.  The benefits of NOFA-VT membership extend far beyond your online listing, and include: discounts on workshops, conferences, and our annual bulk order of farming supplies; our quarterly NOFA Notes newsletter; The Natural Farmer quarterly journal; and more! Visit www.nofavt.org/join  to join, or request a membership brochure via e-mail: info@nofavt.org.

Please complete our survey by February 21, 2015.  The survey can be completed online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NOFA2014CSA or you can contact us to request a paper copy.

If you have any questions, please contact us: erin@nofavt.org / michael@nofavt.org / 802-434-4122.

Thank you!

Farmers’ Market Week Winners!

NOFA and the Vermont Farmers’ Market Association held a “selfie” photo contest in honor of National Farmers’ Market Week, August 3-9. What an amazing week it was! Fresh air, sunshine, outstanding food, and awesome friends. What more could we want?

Thank you to all of our photo contest participants and everyone who voted for their favorite photo. It was great to see how much enthusiasm Vermonters have for our local food producers. And without further ado, here is our photo contest winner and runners up!

Karin Bellemare at the Barre Farmers’ Market, 1st place

Karin wins a $100 gift certificate to the market of her choice, and the Barre Farmers’ Market, where her photo was taken, will receive a $100 advertising stipend from NOFA-VT.

Manolo Zelkin, 2nd place

Beth Wallace, 3rd place

Farmers’ Market Week may be over, but it is still high season for Vermont’s bounty, and farmers’ markets are the best place to find fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, baked goods, gifts, and more. Click here to find a market near you!

Advertise in our organic guide – deadline 5/28! [update]

We’re putting together our 2014-2015 Vermont Organic Farm and Food Guide, which is a beautiful print directory of all of the producers certified organic by VOF.

Update! Deadline for advertisements has been extended to Wednesday, May 28!

» Click here to reserve your advertising space!

We’re excited to be featuring the story of Teeny Tiny Spice Company of Vermont this year, with a delicious recipe using local ingredients and their spices. You’ll also find a farmers’ market directory and information about choosing certified organic, locally grown.

This is a great opportunity to reach an engaged audience, dedicated to supporting local businesses. Reserve your ad space now!

Click to browse the 2013-2014 guide, below.

(Click to browse in Issuu.)

VTFMA Featured Market: Middlebury Farmers’ Market

NOFA-VT and the Vermont Farmers Market Association (VTFMA) work closely to support  farmers’ market across the state. The latest in our series of featured markets is the Middlebury Farmers’ Market.

After a mid-winter break, the Middlebury Farmers’ Market has returned from its two-month hiatus as a refreshed market, eager to supply you with its bounty! Vermonters should be excited to learn that in its pursuit of a year-round market, the Middlebury Farmers’ Market will reopen its indoor farmers’ market on Saturdays beginning March1^st and ending April 27^th. During the winter (November-December) and spring (March-April), the Middlebury Farmers’ Market is located indoors at the Mary Hogan School on Saturdays from 9:30 am until 1:00 pm. In May the market will return to its outdoor location at the Marbleworks in downtown Middlebury.

Learn more about the Middlebury Farmers’ Market…

For a complete directory of all VTFMA member markets, please visit our Farmers’ Market Directory. Past featured markets, market shopping tips, and resources for market vendors and managers are available at www.VTFMA.org.

VTFMA Featured Market: Jeffersonville Farmers’ & Artisan Market

NOFA-VT and the Vermont Farmers Market Association (VTFMA) work closely to support  farmers’ market across the state. The latest in the series of featured markets in the Jeffersonville Farmers’ and Artisan Market.

Since opening in 2012, the Winter Jeffersonville Farmers’ and Artisan Market has continued to grow with new vendors and unite local producers and neighbors by connecting them through great food and communal engagement. The market can be found inside of the Artfull Cup Studio and Sunrise Café building; located at the corner of 16 Iris Lane and 108S (headed towards Smugglers’ Notch on Mountain Road). Look for our sign! Opened from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on the first and third Saturday of the month, November through March, the Winter Jeffersonville Farmers’ and Artisan market offers a variety of items from producers and artisans from across the state.

Learn more about Jeffersonville Farmers’ and Artisan Market…

For a complete directory of all VTFMA member markets, please visit our Farmers’ Market Directory. Past featured markets, market shopping tips, and resources for market vendors and managers are available at www.VTFMA.org.

VTFMA Featured Market: West River Farmers’ Market

NOFA-VT and the Vermont Farmers Market Association (VTFMA) work closely to support farmers’ markets across the state. As more markets expand into winter sales, our “Featured Market” section has expanded through the winter as well!

The West River Farmers Market is now indoors! For the first time since it began its summer market in 1993, the West River Farmers Market will be operating a winter farmers’ market. Beginning October 19^th and lasting until December 28^th, the market will run every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. The market can be found indoors at the Flood Brook Union School, located at 91 Vermont 11, Londonberry, VT 05148. This new location is conveniently located just two miles west of its summer market location.

Learn more about West River Farmers’ Market…

For a complete directory of all VTFMA member markets, please visit our Farmers’ Market Directory. Past featured markets, market shopping tips, and resources for market vendors and managers are available at www.VTFMA.org.

Food+Co-ops: Access to Good Food for All

The Basic Goods program at Wild Oats Market offers “the kitchen staples you use often for the best prices we can afford.” Photo by Bonnie Hudspeth

Access to good food for all. Who can’t get behind that idea? Turns out, once you start to walk down that road, you find a lot of complexities—factors that add up to a lack of access to good food by food insecure populations. That’s what I hear from folks who are addressing this “wicked problem” on a daily basis. But note that they *are* addressing the problem. This month in Food+Co-ops, let’s take a look at how.

Pieces of the puzzle include consumer education, cost, and transportation.

• How can we increase knowledge about where to find good food, how to prepare it, and where to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (aka food stamps, known in Vermont as 3SquaresVT)?
• How can we make good food affordable, and also help people understand the ‘true cost of food’ and how it relates to prices charged by farmers and big box retailers?
• How do folks get to and from the places where good food is available?

One strategy that you’ll see across the two leadership tales below is community partnerships. So let’s take a look at how NOFA-VT and an alliance within the New England cooperative economy are making strides each day toward this important and powerful goal.