Join Us in Expanding Farm to School to All Vermont Communities

We Met Our Goals — Big Wins in State Policy

Thanks to the work of hundreds of people around the state, the Local Foods Incentive was created and funded at $500,000 during the 2021 legislative session. In 2022, the Vermont Legislature fully funded the Farm to School & Early Childhood Grant Program at $500,000 per year. But there is more work to be done!

  • 2023 Farm to School & Early Childhood Awareness Day

    “My family immigrated from India, and I didn’t know too much English, but at school I was able to enjoy meals that were made using local ingredients. I was in preschool, and I was able to tell my parents about all the delicious food I was eating. It was a really formative experience for me, and for a lot of students; the meals were a way for us to all bond.”

    Jeswin Antony, Senior Year Student, Harwood Union High School

    Read more from 2023 Farm to School & Early Childhood Awareness Day

    A student speaks outdoors
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  • Our Goals

    As a Network, we’re advocating for the strengthening and expansion of Vermont farm to school and early childhood programs. To reach our goal, we need to maintain level funding at $500,000 in two areas:

    1. The Farm to School & Early Childhood Grant Program is a critical connector, bringing farmers and educators together so that children and youth can experience local food, have nutritious meals, and learn about where their food comes from. 
      Goal: We want to maintain level base funding of $500,000 for Fiscal Year 2025.

      Download our materials to learn more

    2. The Local Foods Incentive Program provides districts and supervisory unions with financial support for feeding more Vermont kids with fresh local food and directing more dollars to Vermont farmers. 
      Goal: We want to maintain level base funding of $500,000 for Fiscal Year 2025.

      Download our materials to learn more

  • "It is our pleasure to know that we can help where we’re needed in bridging food gaps here in Vermont. Where there is a will there is a way, and farmers are happy to help when needed.”

    – Jeremy Michaud, Owner, Kingdom Creamery of Vermont

    #ThisFARMFEEDSVTKIDS

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  • You Can Help! 

    We want to continue this funding for the future. We want to thank legislators for their commitment to farm to school and early childhood and candidates to support continued full funding for both of these programs. You can help by talking to candidates during Farm to School Month (October) and letting us know what they say.

    Actions You Can Take NOW

  • "The students are seeing the larger picture. Farm to school is a great, tangible lens for kids to understand things like equity and social justice. They are understanding how things are connected and using that understanding to find leverage points to solve problems."

    Paul Kramer, Harwood Union High School Teacher and Farm to School Club Faculty Adviser

    Student grates cheese with an educator.
    #204c5f

  • Information You Can Share with Your Legislators

    The Farm to School & Early Childhood Grant Program

    • Provides support and funding to schools and childcare providers.

    • Helps schools succeed in accessing the local purchasing incentive.

    • Strengthens our local food system.

    • Helps schools to create the structures and build the partnerships we need to be able to bring farm fresh food into our schools and early childhood programs.

    • Creates stability for both farms and school nutrition.

    • Share your story about how the grant program has helped your school or early childhood program, how your child has benefited, or how your farm has benefited. 

    The Local Foods Incentive Program

    • Every $1.00 spent on local food for school meals contributes $1.60 to Vermont’s economy.

    • Schools spend over $15 million on food every year and we want more of those dollars going to Vermont farmers.

    • School nutrition staff and early childhood programs want to feed their kids more local foods but are challenged by costs. The Local Foods Incentive offers an additional per plate incentive to help cover the additional costs of local food if the school meets a certain percentage of local food purchased. It’s a tiered system, so schools can continue to increase purchasing of local food.

    Both of these programs work hand in hand with Universal School Meals! Learn more about making this critical program permanent at universalschoolmealsvt.org.

    Virtuous Cycle of Farm to School

    Photos by Sarah Webb and Andy Duback.