Eat Organic Eat Local

Enjoying organic food raised or grown in Vermont supports the local economy, preserves our rural landscape, and creates a safer, more secure food supply. It’s easier than you might think to eat local food throughout the year, even during cold winter months. Here are some tips and resources to help you on your way.

Getting Started

Buy Vermont! Vermont-grown potatoes, apples, milk, eggs, meats, maple syrup and many other products are available year-round, with a little searching. How do you find them? Look for these logos and phrases.
Know your farmer! Visit farmers’ markets, look for farm stands, or join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm.
- Certified Organic Food: NOFA-VT has a searchable database of certified organic farms and processors in Vermont.
- Farmers’ Markets: Vermont hosts 63 Farmers' Markets around the state. Markets are a great opportunity to purchase locally grown and raised produce, meats, cheeses, and much more.
- Farm Stands: There are 86 farm stands scattered throughout Vermont, several open year-round.
- Community Supported Agriculture Farms: Community Supported Agriculture farms, or CSAs, offer prepaid subscriptions to the farm's produce for the season.

Taking it to the Next Level

Grow Your Own! NOFA-VT’s website is full of resources on starting your own organic garden, and fact sheets on growing different crops. We host farmer and gardener training events year round through our Winter Conference, Summer Workshop Series and other special events. Come learn with us!
Put Food Away! Can, ferment, freeze, dry, cure, smoke, pickle, cellar, store and more! Look for educational workshops by NOFA-VT and other local food groups to learn more about storing the harvest.
Join your localvore pod! Localvores are people dedicated to eating food grown and produced locally.

What is Organic?

Most people are aware that organic food is grown or raised without synthetic pesticides, but that is only one component of organic agriculture. Organic agriculture is a method of production that aims to biologically enhance soil, plant, and animal life. Organic farmers maintain the health of the land for future generations, by treating the farm as a living system. They actively work to improve and maintain soil fertility and on-farm biodiversity. This holistic approach to farming supplies the consumer with a product that is produced with minimal impact on the surrounding environment. In addition, organic foods are produced without the use of genetically modified organisms, irradiation, growth hormones, synthetic preservatives, or artificial ingredients. The term ‘Certified Organic’ means that the food item was raised or produced in accordance with a set of uniform standards and verified by a third party. In the US these uniform standards are set by the National Organic Program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although the USDA governs the program, various state and independent certifiers carry out the certification process on a local level. Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) is the USDA accredited certification program of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT). The role of VOF is to certify farmers and processors to the NOP standards, and encourage producers to be innovative in their approach to organic production.

The National Organic Program Standards outline production requirements for crop and livestock producers as well as food processing operations. These standards outline the practices necessary to be certified organic. The standards cover topics such as land requirements, soil fertility, seeds and planting stock, allowed and prohibited substances, origin of livestock, livestock feed and living conditions, handling requirements for processors, and labeling and record keeping requirements. For more information on the requirements of organic certification, please visit the VOF website.

Summary of Organic Standards:

Land qualifies for organic production if at least three years has passed since the last application of a prohibited pesticide, herbicide, or synthetic fertilizer.
The use of genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and sewage sludge is prohibited.
Farmers must employ positive soil building, conservation, manure management, and crop rotation practices.
Farmers must provide all livestock with year round outdoor access and provide ruminants with access to pasture.
Livestock treated with synthetic hormones and antibiotics will not qualify for organic production.
Livestock must be fed 100% organic grain, forage, and must graze pasture.
Processors must implement measures to avoid contamination of processed products during handling.
All certified operations must keep complete records of all activities and transactions to verify organic management.

Logos and Labels

Food from Vermont farms comes in a lot of different packages – fresh products direct from the farm, Vermont ingredients in processed foods, and menu items in restaurants across the state. The following labels can help you locate organic and/or “local” products.

Vermont Organic Certified:

Producers who use this logo are certified organic by Vermont Organic Farmers, LLC, the certification program of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. In order to use this label, at least 95% of the ingredients must be grown or raised in Vermont.

Vermont Organic Certified Processors:

Vermont Certified Organic Food Processor

Processors who use this logo are certified by Vermont Organic Farmers, LLC, the certification program of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. In order to use this logo, the product must contain at least 95% organic ingredients, but the ingredients do not necessarily need to originate from Vermont. However, the product itself must be manufactured in Vermont.

USDA Organic:

This is an optional logo used by some producers to show that their product meets the standards of the USDA National Organic Program.

Organic:

The use of the word ‘organic’ is regulated by the USDA. If all ingredients in a product are certified organic, the product can be labeled, “100% Organic". Products with at least 95% organic ingredients can be labeled “Organic." If the product contains no less than 70% organic ingredients, the label can say, “Made with Organic Ingredients.” If products contain less than 70% organic ingredients, the word “organic” cannot be used on the principal display panel, but organic ingredients can be identified in the ingredient list.

Local:

The State of Vermont defines ‘local’ as fresh produce raised within 30 miles of the place where it is sold or within the state of Vermont. If you see a label that reads “Local to Vermont” or “Local to New England,” then the product came from within those borders.

Farm Fresh

The State of Vermont defines farm fresh as products raised or grown on the farm and sold in a reasonably short amount of time.

Native:

Native means “Native to Vermont” unless more details are given (e.g. Native Alaskan Salmon is native to Alaska, not Vermont).

Vermont Product:

A Vermont food product is defined by three components – the company selling it, where it was manufactured (for processed food) and the ingredients.

Any company name associated with “Vermont” must be currently doing a substantial amount of its work in Vermont.
If a product is “substantially transformed” (e.g. turning milk into yogurt) this process must be done in Vermont.
There are three cases when the food’s ingredients must be from Vermont:
- If the product is “untransformed” (e.g. the milk before it becomes yogurt)
- Products with one primary ingredient (e.g. cider, cheese)
- Products where the word “Vermont" describes a particular ingredient (e.g. Vermont Blueberry Jam)

Vermont Seal of Quality:

Products with the Vermont Seal of Quality are entirely produced and packaged in Vermont. In processed foods, at least 85% of the ingredients come from Vermont. There can be exceptions for flavorings, spices and other ingredients not commercially available.

Vermont Fresh Network Partner:

The Vermont Fresh Network has partnerships with farmers, restaurants, co-ops, retail stores, and food distributors. If you see a VFN logo on a restaurant, that means the restaurant buys food from at least 3 member farmers and/or food producers. Many restaurants will list their partners on the menu. If not, customers can always ask.

Localvore:

Localvore generally means a product was grown or raised within 100 miles of where it is sold. Some processed products might contain spices or other minor ingredients that are not local. But “localvore” is not an official term; no one monitors how it is used. If you’re confused about how a store or restaurant uses “localvore” ask a staff member to explain.