Kahler told attendees, “You live in a very special Valley, but you know that already. It’s amazing to see the transformation of the local food scene; it’s a little secret of incredible activity.”
The data-driven strategic plan takes a whole systems approach, according to Kahler, and addresses all scales of agriculture from micro, medium to large scale operations. It also includes all markets, with particular emphasis on local markets, she said.
One of the challenges, Kahler said, was defining local. According to the state Legislature, local is defined by Vermont as coming from within the state plus 30 miles.
The plan is intended for a 10-year period, but Kahler said, “Our hope is that in five years it will look very different; we did a lot of work to quantify the food system, current conditions, the 33 goals, 60 high priority strategies, and an economic analysis to show how growing our food system will create jobs and improve the local economy.”
One key finding was the need to improve access to viable and affordable agricultural land and secure tenure for farmers through ownership and leases.
Vermont Localvore director Robin McDermott introduced local business owners Robin Morris and Joey Nagy who outlined plans for the Mad River Valley Food Hub, a local food-processing facility planned for the Irasville Business Park in Waitsfield.
Morris said the food hub project got its start after George Schenk of American Flatbread “graciously agreed to sell us his freezers.”
The goals of the hub, he said, are to “support local farmers and food producers, provide food-processing incubator spaces and enhance local education opportunities.”
Nagy said the hope is to “connect buyers with producers; we’re basing our system on a web-based inventory and ordering system to streamline the buying, selling and distribution of local food.”
MRVPD director Joshua Schwartz said the next step is “continuing the conversation. The opportunities can continue through the Valley Futures Network (VFN) and through farmland matching services.”
During the question-and-answer period, Waitsfield resident Brian Fleischer said, in reference to the food hub, “Think of the way this will change The Valley; with trucks coming in and out of The Valley,” in addition to expressing concern about the potential for a slaughterhouse.
Nagy said there would be no slaughtering done in The Valley.
David Hartshorn, owner of Santa Davida Farm, said, “We owe our heritage of this Valley to the meat animals; it was built on meat production. Without the meat processing and the help with distribution, it’s going to be a bottleneck for the farmer. Vermont is one of the best places for grazing; it’s an asset and it’s ridiculous not to promote that.”
“Without help from facilities, processing and otherwise, good quality organic vegetables are probably not going to be there; nobody eats vegetables that doesn’t have some meat component driving those vegetables,” Hartshorn continued.
Quayle Rewinski said, “In order to be successful it comes down to the consumers; as a consumer, are you willing to pay more than $1.99 per pound for chicken? That’s the reality of making it work.”
Another resident questioned the Vermont Localvore Project’s fund-raising initiative for Pete’s Greens after his barn burned last year, since Pete’s Greens isn’t a local Valley farm.
McDermott said she “thought perhaps people would be concerned about that. The reaction was much like when the Turner barn collapsed. Nancy Baron had worked for Pete. Pete is a friend of mine, and the only resources spent were mine and my husband’s time.”
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