Food+Co-ops: VT Farm to Plate Network Generates Collective Impact

Imagine you are in Paris, in a room full of intelligent, informed people discussing the issues of the day. It is the early 1600s and you are in one of the few social spheres that allows for female leadership. You are in a salon. Perhaps there is art on the walls of the gathering room, and a theater performance. When you arrive, you are announced to the room. Fast forward to 2013, and it turns out you are actually in a breakout session at one of the most innovative food system conferences in the country. This “salon” is exploring what it will take to connect the dots most effectively between producers and consumers of local/regional food. The backdrop is the 3rd Annual Gathering of Vermont’s Farm to Plate Network. Over 250 representatives of the 300+ member Network attended. Members of the Farm to Plate Network encompass all types and scales of agricultural-related production and processing businesses, government entities, educational institutions, distributors, retailers, and dozens of non-profits from food justice to technical assistance providers. This Network is weaving together all components of Vermont's food system to strengthen the working landscape, build the resilience of farms, improve environmental quality, and increase local food access for all Vermonters. Not Just a Conference, but an Ecosystem for Action What’s not to like? But how does a conference translate into action and results? Well, the first thing you notice is that all of the activities and teams in the network are organized around leverage points that were identified in the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan. In 2009, legislation tasked the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund with the creation of a ten-year Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, to increase economic development and jobs in Vermont’s food and farm sector and improve access to healthy local food for all Vermonters. Plans are nice; they sit on the shelf next to the scrapbooks. Right? Or maybe one organization has a plan to meet its goals. The Farm to Plate Strategic Plan is different, and it’s different because of the Farm to Plate Network. Take the meat sector for example. Over a two and a half year period, the Network’s Meat Processing Task Force has facilitated collaboration between livestock slaughter and processing stakeholders to coordinate business and production technical assistance. This team--on which NOFA-VT is a key player--is proactively addressing the growing demand for sustainably raised meat from nearby, and Vermont’s meat sector is expanding. Through the learning and networking that took place at task force meetings, Black River Produce was able to make connections with national industry leaders that influenced the successful opening of their meat processing facility in the former Ben & Jerry’s plant in North Springfield last spring. A Seven Days article, published 8/14/13, noted that Black River employs 155 people and that they recently hired skilled meat cutters. Bear in mind that, according to Vermont Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2000 and 2010 employment in Springfield dropped more than 10 times faster than the statewide average. Not only that, but the median family income growth rate in Springfield from 2000 to 2009 was half that of the state of Vermont, based on Vermont Tax Department statistics. So when a 40,000-square-foot building shifts from sitting dormant for five years to being the backdrop for a 25-year-old emerging leader saying to Seven Days, “This is a company I can retire from. This plant is only going to grow,” you can start to appreciate the significance of private sector leadership and public-private partnerships in a context like the VT Farm to Plate Network.