By John Sayles
This paper has devoted a lot of space in the past few months to discussing the activities at the Kingsbury Farm. The Vermont Foodbank appreciates the forum for people's opinions and the interest that the project has generated, mostly positive but some distrustful of the Foodbank's actions and the presence of the farm store. The Foodbank should have done more over the previous year or so to make sure that everyone interested in what has been happening at this important community resource was fully involved in a dialogue about plans, direction (and changes to plans) and activities. It is the Foodbank's job to make sure this dialogue happens. I hope this can move us toward answering some questions and clarifying what is unclear.
The Foodbank was introduced to this project through a Request for Proposals by the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) for someone to operate the Kingsbury Farm. In the request, it was clear that the community had set goals for the Kingsbury Farm:
- Conserve the farm for active agriculture;
- Establish a recreational path alongside Mad River, while protecting the Mad River corridor and its natural values;
- Establish a viable and innovative farm demonstrating sustainable agricultural practices;
- Increase the availability of locally grown food and farm products;
- Create new opportunities for the community to strengthen its connection to agriculture.
I think it is important to review where we stand in relation to these goals:
The community put a lot of money and energy into seeing that the Kingsbury Farm was conserved for agriculture, including $100,000 from the town of Warren Conservation Reserve Fund and contributions from the Mad River Conservation Partnership, an umbrella group of the many folks involved in the effort. Other funding came from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and donors to the Vermont Land Trust. Because of those investments, the VLT owns a conservation easement valued at $270,000, the Kingsbury Farm will always be a farm, and a 50-foot strip along the Mad River will stay natural and protect the river. The conservation mission has been accomplished, and the community's investment in conserving the farm is secure.
An easement also established a Mad River Path segment along the farm's border with the Mad River. This adds an important link to the path, but just as important is the partnership between supportive groups and the Foodbank to enhance and protect the buffer, provide recreation and improve habitat and water quality. The land is enrolled in the USDA's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which provides funding for enhancement of the land's natural values. With financial and volunteer support from the community, hundreds of trees have been planted, and a plan exists to do more plantings and control invasive plants, like the large areas of Japanese knotweed. Again, the conservation mission is being accomplished, and the community's investment is secure.
Last year the Vermont Foodbank was chosen by a committee to purchase from the VLT for $225,000 the rights to farm the land and make improvements that further the agricultural mission. In the last year and a half the Foodbank has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars improving the infrastructure and the fields to get the property ready for farming. Organic material has been added to fields that have been in hay for many years. The old garage has a new foundation and slab. The spring-and-cistern water system has been replaced by a modern well and a proper septic system. Parts of the farmhouse have been renovated for public access. The old barn has been stabilized. Electric and plumbing systems have been upgraded. More work remains to be done. Soon, a "starter house" will be built, and other small projects will continue. All this has been done to meet the Foodbank's and community's goal to bring a natural, innovative and sustainable farming operation to Kingsbury, and to increase the availability of locally grown food in the Mad River Valley.
Funds for the Foodbank's improvements at the Kingsbury Farm have not come from the funds raised to conserve the land but from grants made to the Foodbank specifically for improving the infrastructure at the farm, to further the Foodbank's mission and the community's goals. The Foodbank is proud of the work that has been done, and those that made the grants are aware of, and pleased with, what is happening at the farm.
PUBLIC ACCESS
Public access to the property and the river and the growing of food to serve hungry people in the area should bring strength and resiliency to the community and give everyone an active connection to our food system. What the Foodbank is working on at Kingsbury Farm is very new, and there is an important balance between meeting the mission and creating a sustainable agricultural enterprise.
Some people will remember that the Foodbank's original proposal in June 2008 envisioned the Foodbank being an "owner/operator" and hiring a farmer to grow crops, all of which would be distributed by the Foodbank to local food shelves and statewide. That proposal projected a three-year operating budget of $472,500. By 2009, we all lived in a different economic world, and it was clear to the Foodbank that the original proposal was not going to be sustainable in achieving the community's or the Foodbank's goals for the Kingsbury Farm. A solution was needed that would continue progress towards revitalizing this farm and be economically sustainable past this year and next. Regretfully, the Foodbank began exploring other options for a sustainable business model.
After discussions with the VLT and the Kingsbury Farm Steering Committee, made up of many of the organizations involved in the original conservation effort, the Foodbank developed the proposal to lease the farm operation. The Foodbank's lease "payment" would be in fresh vegetables, and it would not have to hire additional staff or shoulder the operational risk of running a farm day to day. It would mean that the farm would have a commercial operation component, one that was not in the original vision.
In October 2009, the Foodbank sent out a "request for qualifications" seeking interest in The Valley and across the state. A notice was placed in this paper. An essential part of the request was for details about how the farmers would generate income to support their work and to make growing crops for the food shelves in the Mad River Valley area possible. Also, the "business model" had to be compatible with both the community goals for the Kingsbury Farm and the Foodbank's mission. The Foodbank received six proposals and interviewed three groups of farmers. Suzanne Slomin and Aaron Locker were chosen to operate the farm primarily because of their farming credentials, their commitment to the Foodbank's mission and the community's goals, and a business model that showed the best potential for sustainability.
But the lease that was negotiated did not just hand Suzanne and Aaron the keys to a fully functional farm, store and bakery operation. The Foodbank had outfitted the farm with basic necessities, enough that if Aaron and Suzanne left tomorrow, someone else would be able to step in and do most of the farm tasks. For that the Foodbank will receive $30,000 worth of fresh produce for area food shelves. Aaron and Suzanne brought two tractors, attachments, and shop tools to maintain and repair both theirs and the Foodbank's equipment. They paid for improvements to the building to meet the needs of their business. They purchased an irrigation pump, all the bakery equipment, store fixtures and displays. In short, Suzanne and Aaron have a substantial investment in their business, not to mention the countless hours that any small business owner puts in every day, from accounting to mopping floors (and in this case talking to visitors and customers about the Vermont Foodbank and its mission). If it weren't for their investment and hard work, the Kingsbury Farm would likely be sitting mostly fallow today and no food from those fields would be delivered to your neighbors who don't have the means to feed themselves and their families.
The Foodbank has provided what any commercial landlord would - a basic structure and amenities necessary to house the business. Making the business work is Suzanne and Aaron's job, and nothing the Foodbank has done gives them a better chance of success than any other new business. It is obviously good for the Foodbank if the Kingsbury Market Garden Farm Store and Bakery succeeds, but that success depends on the business owners, not on Foodbank investments in the farm.
After many years, the Kingsbury Farm is a green, active and vibrant gateway to Warren and an improving agricultural asset to the Mad River Valley. While the Kingsbury Farm's operation today is not the original model envisioned by the Vermont Foodbank, it is a step toward fulfilling the Foodbank's mission to grow and supply all the food needed so that no one in Vermont will go hungry. But the Foodbank can't do that alone. It takes whole communities working together to impact hunger, and this community is already making a difference by creating the opportunity to provide freshly harvested, local produce to its neighbors in need.
The Foodbank has tried hard to introduce a model that meets the goals laid out by the Kingsbury Community Farm Committee and is committed to ensuring that food-insecure Vermonters are fed. The Foodbank is also committed to continuing a dialogue with the community about questions and concerns and so has planned a public meeting for Monday, August 9, 2010, at 6 p.m. at the Kingsbury Farm. Those who have more questions or concerns about the project are encouraged to come out, learn and share.
John Sayles is CEO of Vermont Foodbank
