Green Mountain Farm-to-School Receives $10,000 Grant to Purchase and Deliver Local Food for Area Food Pantries

NEWPORT, VT

Contact: Jessica Weston, jweston@gmfts.org, (802) 334-2044

May 5, 2020

Green Mountain Farm Direct (GMFD), a local food hub run by Green Mountain Farm-to-School (GMFTS), works to connect local farms with schools, restaurants, and institutions across Northern Vermont to help increase farms’ sales and boost consumption of local food in the region.  

By fostering partnerships and establishing distribution infrastructure, GMFD serves as a resource for farmers to bridge the gap between production and distribution. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial loss of sales and income for local farmers as schools and restaurants have been shuttered. It has also left many individuals in the community without enough food to feed their families. 

Thanks to a generous $10,000 grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, GMFD will now be able to purchase, process, and deliver healthy, locally produced foods for food pantries in Canaan, St. Johnsbury, Island Pond, and Newport.  This will help fight growing food insecurity in the region, while simultaneously supporting local farmers that have lost access to markets. 

“We are so happy to be able to support local producers and get healthy food out to our communities,” said Amrita Parry, Food Hub Accounts Manager. 

In addition to delivering to food pantries, GMFD has begun establishing community-based “buying clubs” for rural towns.  This allows folks to have fresh, local food delivered to their community without needing to travel to a far-away grocery store and risk exposing themselves to the virus.  In fact, one of these buying clubs is reserved only for those 60+ and/or immunocompromised. 

The interest in buying clubs is still growing, and more than $4,000 worth of food has been purchased from local producers in the last month, serving more than 30 families across ten towns.

Green Mountain Farm Direct thanks our farmers, donors, and partners for helping feed our community in this time of need.