What Vermont Students Told Legislators About Farm to School

Every year at Farm to School & Early Childhood Awareness Day, legislators hear from the people closest to this work. Who better to explain what farm to school makes possible than the students who have experienced it firsthand? Earlier this year, two Champlain Valley Union High School seniors, Yvonne and Olivia, shared what food systems education has meant to them.

My name is Yvonne. I live in Shelburne, where I am a leader of Champlain Valley Union High School’s Farm to School Club and a student organizer of the annual Food Education and Sustainable Thinking (FEAST) Summit. 

Through farm to school, I have had the privilege of meeting so many extraordinary people, learned lessons I never could have learned in a classroom, and had opportunities to experience Vermont from a completely new perspective. Farm to school has changed my life and shaped my high school experience, and I am here today to implore you to fund these programs so that they can continue to do the same for generations to come.

Born in New Jersey, I did not grow up churning butter or milking cows. I entered high school with a similar outlook. Farming was boring; it put food on my plate and that was it. I regret to say that that outlook was—and still is—shared by many of my peers. But I believe farm to school programs have the power to change that. I don't know what came over me when I signed up for Farm to School Club with Olivia that day freshman year; maybe we wanted some fresh air or some time with the goats we have on campus. But it was the single best decision I’ve made in high school. Immediately, we were met with a full-blown operation: greenhouses, garden beds, chickens, goats, all the tomatoes we could eat! The opportunities felt endless and we left that day buzzing with ideas and friends we wanted to invite to the club. 

Fast-forward to now, three and a half years later. So many of our silly ideas have become reality. Not only do we help to feed our school and raise awareness about where our food comes from, but, over the years, we have recruited 30 new members, started our own farm stand selling summer produce and student art at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market, led workshops at NOFA Vermont conferences, hosted schoolwide events, and volunteered as gleaners at local farms. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. 

More importantly, farm to school has taught me and so many others the types of valuable life skills that are just as important as, if not more important than, anything I am learning in calculus. I have learned how to lead, how to speak out and communicate effectively on Zoom and in person, how to manage a small business and the responsibilities that accompany doing so (especially since working with produce can be unpredictable), how to solve problems when the goats escape their enclosure at 10PM, how to keep kids engaged when teaching them about the importance of shopping locally, how to handle bees and what to do when you spill a gallon of honey, and so much more. 

Together, we have learned how to take initiative, how to collaborate with each other to meet our goals, and how to expand on them when realistic. And in doing so, I have formed some of my most valuable connections and met my best friends. It has given me direction for my future and an excitement for my present. I have big hopes for the future of farm to school. I believe that what we have here at my school and in many others across Vermont is really special. As a state, we have a responsibility to keep kindling this spark, which can be fanned into a flame that could spread beyond Vermont and reach other students like me and like Olivia across the nation and even on a global scale, because fostering this type of interest and passion is so imperative for youth, especially in today’s world.

Hello, my name is Olivia. I am a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School. I have been part of the district since kindergarten, a leader of my high school's Farm to School Club for four years, and a student organizer of the annual Food Education and Sustainable Thinking (FEAST) Summit for three years.

Ever since I was little, I remember my school having some sort of environmental program, whether it was built into the school program, like raising chicks or growing seeds, or whether it was a garden that the school let us maintain. I think having that connection to nature from a young age helped me develop a sense of sympathy for our planet's environment. I think it is hard to care about something that you can’t see, so the environment, always being a part of my education, has shaped the way I see the world and helped create the drive I have to protect it at this point in my life.

I had always had a connection to nature, so when I entered high school, Yvonne and I joined a program called Farm to School Club. I would soon find it to be one of the most influential programs for me. It helped me not only because of the community I have been able to meet, but also because I found myself in many positions where I would constantly hear about problems like food insecurity and environmental issues, and through farm to school, I was able to spend time with my friends to brainstorm how I personally could help with these issues. We have gleaned and created a farm stand to help with food insecurity, we have attended NOFA Vermont’s conference to help educate younger generations about the importance of fresh produce and the environment, we have been able to work on a farm with both plants and animals to understand ecosystems and agricultural practices, and we have attended and planned FEAST, which allowed us to organize a day when high school students would run workshops to educate their peers on sustainable practices and solutions, while also teaching them about food and environmental problems they may not have been previously aware of.

Although I will be graduating soon, I know how important it was to me to have a positive outlet to deal with all of the various environmental and food insecurity issues that we are commonly told about in school, and I hope that other students will have access to the same support that I have been able to receive. Additionally, everything that I have done and learned has definitely shaped the direction of my future, and I am about to go to college to keep working to protect our environment. I never would have found this passion without being introduced to the environment at a young age and without farm to school.