Intervale Food Hub: Moving Local Food Forward

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annual gross sales, burlington community, CSA, Food Hub, food system, Intervale, Intervale Center, Intervale Farms, local food, real food, vermont farmers

Have you seen our big white truck around town? Or heard about a friend’s Food Hub CSA share and wondered, “What is this all about? What is a Food Hub anyway?”

The Intervale Food Hub is a growing enterprise of the Intervale Center that markets and distributes local food (hence the word “hub”). The Food Hub’s goal is to provide the greater Burlington community access to high-quality foods while returning a fair price to farmers. Over 20 Vermont family farms sell products to hundreds of community members right where they work through a multi-farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. This program also delivers shares to public schools and Burlington-area colleges.

Here’s how the CSA works: farmers deliver their products — be they sausages, yogurt, tomatoes, frozen fruit, or kohlrabi — to the Food Hub. Food Hub staffers sort and pack the products into customized CSA shares that are then delivered in handy orange shopping carts right to customers’ workplaces, so they don’t even need to stop at the grocery store on their way home!

Projected growth of this important enterprise shows $1.1 million in annual gross sales by 2016, with $700,000 returned to Vermont farmers.

But the Food Hub isn’t just bringing more local food to more consumers, it’s also opening new markets to farmers. Over 50% of Food Hub customers each year are new to the concept of CSA entirely — and, with a season of CSA membership under their belts, they’re more likely to feel comfortable choosing and buying local food at farmers’ markets and retailers.

Eric Seitz and Rob Rock of Burlington's Pitchfork Farm

As Eric Seitz and Rob Rock of Pitchfork Farm stated,

As our farm has grown, much of our success is due to the innovation and foresight of the Intervale Food Hub. Almost overnight, a whole new market became available to us. We would never have been able to achieve that without the Food Hub. To us, it really is the future model of local food distribution!

Finally, the Food Hub’s impact extends far beyond Chittenden County – our work has had a statewide and national impact. We’ve been sharing our model with other groups seeking to build or expand local food networks. As Kate Collier of the Local Food Hub in Charlottesville, Virginia, said,

There is nothing more valuable and inspiring than actually seeing the Intervale first hand. The Intervale team has worked on community food systems for over 20 years, so they continue to be a valuable resource for us as the Local Food Hub works through the many opportunities and inevitable challenges that come with maturity.

With spring shares underway and summer share signup just beginning, the Food Hub is gearing up for another great summer of moving local food forward!

City Market Celebrates Local Food With Carrots, Hearts, and Cupcakes

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City Market, farms, local food

Burlington’s Co-op marks 10 years downtown by promoting local food and local farmers – and raises over $3,018 for the Intervale Center!

Photo credit: City Market/Onion River Co-op

Burlington, VT – City Market, Onion River Co-op ran three promotions during the month of February to celebrate all things local. Among them were a community-driven Savory Local Carrot Recipe Competition that asked home cooks to submit their favorite carrot-based recipes; a checkout line fundraiser that raised over $3,000 for the Intervale Center; and a 10 year celebration of its Downtown location that offered free cupcakes and discounts on local products.

Over 40 entries were submitted in the We ♥ Local Food Savory Carrot Recipe Competition, which dangled a carrot of a $100 gift card as the grand prize. Entries were judged based on proportion of local ingredients, simplicity, taste, health, and originality. The top three finalists were taste-tested and voted on by the public at the Burlington Winter Farmers’ Market on Saturday, February 18. The top vote-getter was Cumin Roasted Carrots by April Howard of Burlington. The winning recipe, along with the two runners-up, are available at www.citymarket.coop/recipes.

During the recipe competition period, City Market customers were given the opportunity to support local farms at the checkout line. Shoppers could tack an additional $1 onto their bill and pledge it toward the Intervale Center, a local non-profit organization working to build and strengthen community food systems in Vermont, across the U.S., and around the world. A total of 3,081 “hearts” were purchased during the nine day promotion and the resulting donation, which far surpassed the Co-op’s goal, was presented to the Intervale Center!

“The icing on the cake for us this month was the celebration of our tenth year in this wonderful building,” noted Clem Nilan, City Market General Manager. “The move Downtown was truly a community-based project that couldn’t have happened without the support of our membership, the City of Burlington, and all of our customers. To celebrate this birthday and to appreciate those who have been integral to our success, we decided to put the birthday spotlight on our local farmers and food producers.”

Read City Market’s blog post on the Intervale Center donation: “3,081 Hearts Swoon Over the Intervale.”

Love the Intervale Bake Sale

Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11 at Kiss The Cook

Stop in to enter to win a $125 Valentine’s Day gift package. The $1 entry fee goes to the Intervale Center!

The package includes:

• A $25 Kiss the Cook gift certificate
• 2 Schott Zwiesel wine glasses
• Rose Levy pie plate
• Cookie cutters
• Pie bird
• Kiss the Cook apron
• Heart pan

Share the local love with your sweetie this Valentine’s Day!

 

 

The NOFA Vermont Winter Conference is Almost Here!

Tags

fruit and vegetable growers, organic food

The NOFA-VT Annual Winter Conference is Vermont’s pre-eminent gathering of the local food community, bringing together more than 1,500 organic farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, educators, chefs, policy makers, researchers, foragers and consumers.

The conference theme, Community and Ecological Resilience: Building an Enduring and Adaptable Food System will address the need to adapt agriculture to be more resilient given increasingly dramatic weather events and climate conditions. New this year: several day-long seminars for farmers and homesteaders on Friday, a seed swap, and a dinner and dance Saturday night.

Intervale Center staff member Sona Desai will present on Sunday on “Next Steps in Vermont Food Hubs,” and Intervale staffer Julie Rubaud (wearing her Red Wagon Plants hat) will lead a workshop titled “The Kitchen Garden: Strategies for Abundant Harvests in Small Spaces.”

The conference is at UVM (Feb 11-12) and Burlington’s Main Street Landing (February 10). Browse workshops and learn all the details at http://nofavt.org/annual-events/winter-conference or call 802-434-4122 for more information. Save on registration by volunteering! Also, there is a scholarship available for flood impacted farmers, providing free registration for up to 2 people per farm.  Contact the NOFA office for details.

This conference has something for everyone!
For veggie/fruit producers:
Three of the Friday seminars and more than 25 weekend workshops are intended for beginning to advanced commercial fruit and vegetable growers. Topics include soil health, food safety, pricing, greenhouse management, and more.

Friday seminars will cover Weed Management in a Wetter, Warmer Climate, with Geo Honigford, Dr. Lewis Ziska, and Dr. Eric Gallant; Renewable Energy Options On-Farm and Alternative Fuels for Greenhouses, with a variety of industry experts and local farmers; and Advanced Orchard Health for Sustainable Fruit Production with Michael Phillips. Veggie and fruit farmers may also be interested in Organic Beekeeping with Ross Conrad.

For dairy/livestock farmers:
More than 20 weekend workshops are intended for beginning to advanced dairy and livestock farmers. Topics include pasture management, fencing, financial management, grain and oil crops, and more. Interested in learning to do your own butchering? Check out our Friday seminar Nose-to-Tail Butchering with Sam Fuller, Frank Pace and Sam Ehrenfeld.

For those interested in alternative energy:
Renewable Energy Options On-Farm and Alternative Fuels for Greenhouses is one of the day-long Friday seminars, and will focus on bringing renewable energy systems from theory to practice on your farm. The first half of this full-day workshop will provide an overview of the on-farm auditing process used to identify energy conservation and efficiency opportunities. Encore Redevelopment and AllEarth Renewables will discuss options for financing energy projects and group net metering. The second half of the day will look at on-farm solutions for using alternative energy to heat greenhouses including cord wood gasifiers, wood pellets and aerobic composting.

For gardeners, homesteaders and eaters:
More than 40 weekend workshops are for folks who don’t farm for a living: gardeners, homesteaders, and people who just love good, local food. From backyard poultry to seedsaving, engaging youth to fermenting your own fruit wines, there’s sure to be something for everyone. This year’s conference features several hands-on workshops especially for localvores who want to increase their cooking skills – and an all-day Friday seminar for those who want to learn how to butcher their own meat from nose to tail.

Thanks to You, We Rocked 2011!

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burlington summer, farm incubators, farms, Farms Program, Food Hub, food system, gleaning, hurricane irene, Intervale, Intervale Center, Intervale Conservation Nursery, intervale farmers recovery fund, Intervale Farms, local food, new farmers, organic food, real food, summervale, Thursdays, Vermont farms, winooski river, young farmers

We did it! You helped us meet our 2011 Annual Appeal goal. Our target was $25,000, and we exceeded it!

Thank you for showing that you value our mission of strengthening community food systems. Thank you for letting us know that you value our work sustaining farms, land, and people. Thank you for knowing (and loving) your farmer! Finally, thanks to you, we achieved so much in 2011. Here are some of the highlights:

SUSTAINING FARMS, LAND, and PEOPLE

Over 20 Vermont farms participate in the Intervale Food Hub's multi-farm CSA

Success on Farms: We worked with 22 farms this year, providing business planning and technical support services to help grow and manage their businesses. Over the past ten years, we’ve worked with over 100 farms that represent about 10,000 acres of Vermont’s working landscape.

Intervale Food Hub: The Food Hub helped 20 farms reach local food-lovin’ CSA (community-supported agriculture) customers at 25 workplace drop-off points in Chittenden County, including UVM, St. Michael’s, and Champlain College. We also exceeded projected annual sales by nearly $100,000!

The Food Hub is pleased to now accept EBT and NOFA Farm Shares for CSA share payments. We continue to explore new options to extend CSA to all income levels and populations, including college student shares and a new share available at local elementary schools.

Though our gleaning and food rescue program funded by Gardener’s Supply Company came to an abrupt halt with Tropical Storm Irene, from early July through August we were able to distribute over 7,000 pounds of produce to income-eligible community members through a Free Food Share to individuals and social services. Between 25 and 33 households received shares each week. All Free Food Share recipients surveyed indicated that the share increased the amount of fresh vegetables prepared and eaten by their families.

Stay tuned: We will be unveiling an exciting new Food Hub-related campaign at the beginning of next month – right now we’re calling it “The Gamechanger.”

Intervale Conservation Nursery: We supplied 14,000 native trees and shrubs to riverbank restoration projects and planted an additional 4,485 trees throughout the Lake Champlain Basin. This helped restore nearly 100 acres of riparian habitat and helps keep Lake Champlain clean for all to enjoy.

We are continuing to partner with US Fish and Wildlife Service on a monitoring project that will evaluate dozens of riparian restoration areas over a 5-year period.

Food writer Mark Bittman visited the Intervale Center the day after Thanksgiving. The orange Intervale Center hat looks good, no?

Policy: We continue to work with the City of Burlington, Vermont Agency of Agriculture and FEMA to ensure that floodplain locations like the Intervale can continue to be utilized in support of sustainable agriculture. We also hosted Congressman Peter Welch to help inform his work on the House Agricultural Committee, and discussed national Food Hubs with Senator Bernie Sanders and special guest, food writer Mark Bittman on the day after Thanksgiving. Read what Bittman had to say about the Intervale Center’s work here.

What Happened to Intervale Compost Products? We successfully transitioned Intervale Compost Products (now known as Green Mountain Compost) to its new state-of-the-art home at the Chittenden Solid Waste District facility in Williston. Compost lands and buildings are being leased to Intervale Community Farm, which plans to expand pick-your-own operations after soil enhancement on the site. The former Compost offices have been leased to the Intervale Farmers’ Equipment Company, providing year-round office and storage space for Intervale farmers.

Sharing Our Work: We hosted 10 Summervale events attended by 600+ people each week! We celebrated, ate, drank, created, grooved, and learned together … and can’t wait for Summervale 2012!

National and international visitors included the National Peace Academy, visitors from China and Russia participating in the Vermont Council on World Affairs‘s International Visitors Leadership Program, the staff of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, the Vermont Regional Food Centers (16 groups statewide), a beginning farmers group from Missouri, and many others. We also sell our Farmer Manual in North America.

Certainly not least, Flood Relief: With the help of our community, the Intervale Center raised over $140,000 for the Intervale Center Farmers’ Recovery Fund! We couldn’t have done it without your incredible generosity. Thank you!

Intervale farmers and Intervale Center staff members gathered in October 2011 to celebrate the rainbow after the storm

Vermont Regional Food Centers

Tags

ACORN, burlington local food, center for an agricultural economy, half pint farm, hardwick local food, Intervale Farms, intervale food hub, regional food centers, regional food hubs

Representatives from Regional Food Centers tour Intervale Community Farm, a 500+-member CSA in Burlington's Intervale and a Farms Program Mentor Farm

By Sona Desai, Food Hub Manager

This fall, the Intervale Center hosted the Vermont Regional Food Centers for a tour and discussion about food hubs. The Vermont Regional Food Centers is a group of around 15 organizations around the state that are working to help connect farmers to markets by providing aggregation, distribution, marketing, storage and/or processing support.

We hosted folks from the Center for an Agricultural Economy in Hardwick, Foodworks at Two Rivers Center in Montpelier, Saint Johnsbury Local Food Alliance, Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN) in Middlebury, Rutland Area Farm and Food Link (RAFFL) and others.

The tour of the Intervale Center’s lands and programs included a visit with Andy Jones of Intervale Community Farm, along with visits to the Intervale farmer barn, greenhouse complex, Intervale Conservation Nursery and the Intervale Food Hub.

Following the tour, we had a great conversation with Jim Barham of the USDA and Katie Enterline of the Wallace Center to discuss Food Hub trends on a national scale. Food Hubs are cropping up all over the country — 100 have already been identified, and the list is growing. The Intervale Center is excited to be leading this movement here in Vermont.

All in all, it was an engaging and inspiring day as we learned from others and shared our work.

We were also lucky enough to have lunch catered by Mara and Spencer Welton of Half Pint Farm (an Intervale farm). They created a wonderful burrito bar that included homemade tortillas, pinto beans, green chili sauce, red chili sauce, and preserved local veggies from their farm. They are serving their amazing burritos at the Burlington Winter Farmers Market all winter long, so check them out!

Giving Thanks for Local Food: Bernie Sanders and Mark Bittman Visit the Intervale Center

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bernie sanders, Food Hub, intervale food hub, local food, mark bittman, vermont local food

Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mark Bittman, and Travis Marcotte discuss the Intervale Center's work strengthening the local food system during a press conference on Friday, November 25. Photo credit: Joe Speidel.

On the day after Thanksgiving, United States Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Times columnist and author Mark Bittman emphasized the importance of a strong local food system while visiting the Intervale Center.

The Intervale is an experiment of extraordinary importance,” said Bittman. “The Intervale Food Hub, and projects like it, are the way of the future … It’s an inspiration for everybody.

Joined by the Intervale Center’s founder, Will Raap, and its executive director, Travis Marcotte, the group learned about the Intervale Center’s work, toured the Intervale Food Hub facility, and held a brief press conference at the Calkins Farmstead, where the Center’s offices are located. They also enjoyed local refreshments prepared by Intervale Center staffer Julie Rubaud and Intervale Center board member Maura O’Sullivan, chef at Burlington’s Penny Cluse Cafe.

From l.: Intervale Center board member Meg Smith, Bernie Sanders, Will Raap, and board member Mary Sulilvan listen to Travis Marcotte speak about the Intervale Center's innovative programs. Photo credit: Joe Speidel.

Joined by Intervale Center staff, board members, and Intervale farmers, Bittman and Sanders learned about the Intervale Center’s innovative Farms Program, which incubates 1-2 new farmers in the Intervale each year, as well as the Intervale Food Hub, which aggregates and distributes local products from over 23 regional farms directly to consumers, retail markets, and institutions.

“The Food Hub is really sort of innovative. It will be interesting to see where it goes, though there’s no reason it won’t do great,” said Bittman.

Bittman and Sanders also talked to Intervale farmers Thomas Case, of Arethusa Farm, and Eric Seitz, of Pitchfork Farm. Along with the other 10 farms operating in the Intervale, these businesses bring over $1 million of local food annually to Burlington-area markets. (Already familiar with Intervale farms, Bittman expressed his concern about Irene-related damages in an earlier blog post here.)

Also present were Erica Campbell, the Farm to Plate Initiative‘s Program Director, and Joe Speidel of the University of Vermont‘s Community Relations office.

What is taking place here in the Intervale is extraordinarily important,” said Bernie Sanders, “not only for Chittenden County and Vermont, but as a model for the nation.

From l.: Bernie Sanders, Will Raap, and Mark Bittman discuss the Food Hub's aggregation and distribution systems. Photo credit: Alice Levitt

 Read more about the visit:

Burlington Free Press

Blurt: Seven Days staff blog

Bernie Sanders’ newsroom

Food Hubs in the News

Tags

food hubs, Intervale Center, Intervale Farms, intervale food hub, local food hub

The Intervale Food Hub, an enterprise of the Intervale Center, has been featured in two recent articles about the growth – and importance – of food hubs in the United States.

In “Food Hubs: Restoring Historic Practice,” Naomi Starkman summarizes the ways that food hubs benefit their communities economically, environmentally, and socially, citing the Intervale Food Hub as a successful nonprofit-driven model. She explains how food hubs connect farmers directly with institutional customers in a similar way that farmers’ markets connect growers and consumers.

“Increasing farm income and local food access: A case study of a collaborative aggregation, marketing, and distribution strategy that links farmers to markets,” an article recently published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, features the Intervale Center as a successful example of the ways that a Food Hub can benefit farmers, consumers, and institutions. In the case study, UVM researchers explored how the Intervale Food Hub supports its community’s goals in increasing access to and consumption of local food.

Need a Food Hub primer? Get a quick introduction to Food Hubs here. Here’s what other food hub directors are saying about the Intervale Food Hub:

“Before starting the Local Food Hub in 2009, we had the opportunity to join a group from Charlottesville for an extended session at the Intervale [Center]. We got to see their CSA program at pick up time. We saw the berry farmer selling his jam made from berries he’d grown a few yards over … We saw the actual infrastructure involved in running [the Food Hub]. There is nothing more valuable and inspiring than actually seeing the Intervale first hand.

“Well, actually, there is. The in-depth discussions with Travis [Marcotte] and his innovative, educated team were priceless.  Their presentations gave us a broad understanding of food systems and shared specifically how their non-profit has designed on-the-ground services that are making an impact. We came prepared with questions, specific to our project, and the team answered them honestly and clearly with lots of time for brain-storming and relationship building.

 The Intervale [Center’s] team has worked on community food systems for more than 20 years, so they continue to be a valuable resource for us as the Local Food Hub works through the many opportunities and inevitable challenges that come with maturity.

- Kate Collier, Local Food Hub, Charlottesville, VA. The Local Food Hub is a nonprofit that works with 50 family farms to sell local produce to over 120 businesses and institutions and 45 schools within 100 miles of Charlottesville, VA.

New Grant Awarded to the Intervale Center and Partners

Tags

new farmers, organic food, usda beginning farmers, Vermont farmer, young farmers

The Intervale Center's Farms Program helps beginning farmers like Amie Francoeur (pictured) of Samara CSA Farm get started.

Last week, the USDA announced the awards for its 2011 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. This means that over the next three years, new farmers in Vermont will benefit from increased services geared towards helping them learn the skills and access the resources needed to achieve success in their business. This USDA grant was awarded to 36 projects throughout the country and provides  $18 million of support to work geared towards beginner farmers and ranchers.

We’re happy to announce that the Intervale Center is a partner in one of the grants award to the Vermont Beginner Farmer Network, along with a number of other partnering organizations, such as UVM Extension, Rutland Area Food and Farm Localization (RAFFL), NOFA-VT, Vital Communities, and the Association of Africans Living in Vermont. Together, these organizations will collaborate to improve the delivery of services to beginning farmers in Vermont. This will include help with  finding land, access to classes and technical assistance, understanding financing options and more. Under the umbrella of the New Farmer Network, potential and existing new farmers can access a wide array of services and resources to help them insure success in their business planning.

This Thursday: Bike-In Movie at the Intervale Center!

Tags

american flatbread, City Market, greenhorns, intervale events, Intervale Farms, new farmers

This Thursday, October 6
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
The Intervale Center (map)

American Flatbread beer & pizza available for purchase! FREE local popcorn from City Market!

The Greenhorns is a documentary film exploring the lives of America’s young farming community – its spirit, practices, and needs. With the average age of farmers in the United States pushing 60, come get a look at how our country will build the next generation of local farms and build a resilient, sustainable local food system.

Bike down (if you’re able; other modes of transportation are also welcome) to the Intervale Barn for the screening.

Brought to you by City Market/Onion River Co-op and the Intervale Center