Agricultural Literacy Week Connects Communities to their Local Farms

Featured event November 16th in Barre highlights the role of food in the counterculture movements of the 1970s.

Vermont (statewide) — The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) announces the fifth annual Agricultural Literacy Week on November 14-19, 2016. With a focus on local farming, healthy food, and strong communities, this week's events will promote the role of Vermont agriculture across the state.

Agricultural Literacy Week is designed to educate Vermont citizens about the important role of farms in our communities and to the economy of our state. People of all ages will have the opportunity to participate in events statewide to learn more about Vermont’s farms and farmers. This week of activities connects communities to their local farms, while also furthering Vermont’s Farm to Plate goals to increase food literacy and educational opportunities in schools and communities.

Thanks to our partnership with VT Department of Libraries and the work of our NOFA-VT regional Farm to Community Mentors, many community libraries are celebrating Agricultural Literacy Week by showing the movie, Unbroken Ground, farmer story time, and farmer as guest speakers.

A highlight of the week is an open house at the Vermont History Center’s exhibit, “Freaks, Radicals, and Hippies: Counterculture in 1970s Vermont”. From 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, November 16th, visitors are welcome to explore the exhibit at the Vermont History Center, at 60 Washington Street in Barre, VT.

The decade of the 1970s was a crucial turning point for food and agriculture in Vermont and nation-wide. Vermonters, both longtime farmers and new commune members, began experimenting with organic agriculture, heirloom seeds, locally sourced produce, food buyers’ cooperatives, and farmers’ markets. A new exhibit from the Vermont Historical Society, based on two years of research, highlights the important role that food played in the counterculture movements of the 1970s.

Visitors can also hear a talk by Grace Gershuny, organic agriculture pioneer and author of the newly released book Organic Revolutionary: A Memoir of the Movement for Real Food, Planetary Healing, and Human Liberation.

This event is co-sponsored by NOFA-VT, VT FEED, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, and the Vermont Historical Society.

 [Please note: Events are being added daily. For a complete, up-to-date list, go to www.nofavt.org/ag-lit-week.]

# # #

About NOFA Vermont: NOFA Vermont is non-profit organization working to grow local farms, healthy food, and strong communities in Vermont. Our members are farmers, gardeners, educators and food lovers of all sorts – anyone who wants to help us create a future full of local food and local farms. Our programs include farmer and gardener technical assistance, farm to school support, organic certification, advocacy, an online apprentice and farm worker directory, an annual Winter Conference, and programs that work to ensure access to fresh, local food to all Vermonters, regardless of income.