Input Needed for a New Vision of Farming and Food in Vermont

MONTPELIER, VT – The Farm to Plate Network, managed by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF), just launched a public survey that will help develop a new vision for farming and food, and prioritize how we support and develop food and agriculture in the next decade. Your input is needed in order to update the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan (Vermont’s legislatively enabled statewide food system plan) and determine how the Farm to Plate Network supports and develops food and agriculture in the decade to come.

By answering the questions in the survey, you’ll be adding your voice to the plan and helping to shape the next 10 years of farm and food development in Vermont. You will be asked to answer a short series of questions on the future of farming and food. Respondents will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 gift certificate to a Vermont farmers market of the winner’s choice. All responses to the survey will be kept confidential.

In 2019, VSJF was reauthorized by the Vermont Legislature to create the Farm to Plate 2.0 Strategic Plan. The plan will be presented as a series of product, market, and issue briefs highlighting current conditions, bottlenecks and gaps, opportunities, and recommendations for a wide range of topics relating to agriculture and food in Vermont. Part One was published in January 2020 and Part Two will be available this summer. The final version of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan 2.0 will be delivered to the Vermont Legislature in January 2021.

The original Farm to Plate 1.0 Strategic Plan, created in 2009 following the signing of the Farm to Plate Investment Program legislation into law, provides an overview of the development process VSJF used to work with over 1,200 farmers, producers, technical assistance providers, and farm and food sector industry leaders to create Vermont's original food system plan. It highlights 25 goals and dozens of strategies to strengthen and grow Vermont’s food system, as well as the progress to reach those goals, and explores the major issues impacting Vermont’s food system through analysis of high impact leverage areas.

We also encourage food and farming organizations in Vermont to share this survey and opportunity with their members to help get the word out to capture as many voices as possible.

Your voice is valuable. Share your input on the future of farming and food in Vermont at cutt.ly/F2P-Public-Input.

ABOUT FARM TO PLATE:

Farm to Plate is Vermont’s statewide food system plan implemented by 350+ member organizations of the Farm to Plate Network to meet the goals of legislation passed in 2009 calling for increased economic development and jobs in the farm and food sector and improved access to healthy local food for all Vermonters. Vermont’s farm to plate food system plan is the most comprehensive in the country and the only state that has complete government engagement. In 2019, Vermont Farm to Plate was reauthorized beyond 2020. The program is managed by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Montpelier, Vermont. www.VTFarmtoPlate.com