June 8, 2026
As another Vermont legislative session wraps up and we reflect on this session's wins, losses, and everything in between, we are reminded of what's always been true: good policy is created (and bad policy avoided) when the people most impacted are part of the process. Every bill we led on, influenced, and tracked this session required substantial participation by people with meaningful lived experience. The best outcomes happen when that experience directly informs policy from development through implementation, and at every step along the way.
We are proud that the successful passage of the Farm & Forestry Operations Security Special Fund represents what can happen when the people who stand to benefit are given the opportunity to shape policy from start to finish. Born out of the extreme flooding in 2023 and 2024 that devastated too many of Vermont's farms, the Farm Security Fund was envisioned and created by farmers and those who depend on them to ensure our agricultural community has the support it needs to weather the worst effects of climate change.
Months before the Farm Security Fund was introduced as legislation, farmers participated in community meetings to inform and shape the bill, and they continued showing up over the past two years—testifying, writing op-eds in local papers, contacting their legislators, and hosting elected officials on their farms. While we still have work ahead to ensure the Farm Security Fund is fully funded and implemented, its passage into law would not have been possible without the powerful organizing and persistence of farmers and those who depend on them.
This year’s state budget process also brought important progress for food access programs that directly support Vermont households and local farms. We are excited to share that the Vermont FY27 budget will include $350,000 for NOFA-VT’s Local Food Security Programs—enough to fund Farm Share, Crop Cash, and Crop Cash Plus. These are programs that subsidize the cost of locally produced food and, in the case of Crop Cash and Crop Cash Plus, incentivize the use of SNAP benefits at local farm businesses, allowing those federal funds to have a greater impact on our local economies. While this level of funding is less than what is needed to operate the programs at their current capacity, we see it as a meaningful win in a tight budget year.
In a challenging fiscal environment, it was particularly impactful to have sustained engagement from low-income shoppers, the farmers producing/selling the food, and our partner organizations in the Food Security Coalition. People across the state supported these food access programs through testimony at the State House, calls and emails to legislators, comments on the Governor’s budget, and steady encouragement in their communities. In response to this advocacy, the Legislature worked to ensure Crop Cash Plus could continue operating this summer—an effort that depends on state investment. Though it will operate at a smaller scale, the Crop Cash Plus program is slated to restart at farmers markets in July. Building on the Crop Cash produce program, Crop Cash Plus helps SNAP shoppers stretch their food budgets further by purchasing meat, grains, dairy, and other essential foods. The result reflects the strength of collective public engagement in shaping budget priorities.
Community expertise is also essential in preventing harmful or underinformed policy. We saw this firsthand during the second half of the session, when NOFA-VT was alerted to language regarding seed distribution, licensing, and registration in the Senate's miscellaneous agriculture bill, S.323. Alexis Yamashita, a longtime seed grower, saver, researcher, and NOFA-VT board member, was alarmed by the dangerous implications of that language for seed sharing and seed sovereignty. Through her advocacy informed by her own expertise and that of colleagues in Vermont and across the country, Alexis helped persuade the House to remove most of the seed language until additional community input can be gathered.
In contrast, the pushback to portions of Act 181 this session, particularly from rural communities, was a reminder that policy developed without early, consistent, and meaningful participation from those most impacted often leads to negative outcomes. We are grateful to the thousands of Vermonters who voiced concerns about parts of the law and advocated for changes, and to the legislators who listened and took action based on what they heard.
In all of these cases, the lesson is the same: when people show up and have meaningful opportunities to participate in shaping the policies that affect their lives, it matters. We look forward to continuing that work this summer and fall with our members on farms and around kitchen tables, with joy, care, and the belief that together we hold the vision for what's possible.
