Meet up with Singing Cedar Farmers for quality produce and meat from busy market gardeners & critter tenders. Find them at the farmers market!
Middlebury Winter Farmer's Market: NEW LOCATION & NEW HOURS Shop locally every Saturday in Nov & Dec!
Shop for holiday gifts on Saturdays at Middlebury Farmer's market and support our up and coming businesses!
Middlebury Land Trust
Don your orange vest and take a walk on the 16 mile Middlebury Trail of our beautiful, conserved land!
Food, Farming and Community Lecture
Monday, Nov. 26 4:30-6:30
Middlebury College BiCentennial Hall
Room 104
Josh Slotnick is a farmer and professor at the University of Montana's PEAS Farm. Josh will speak on the intersections of food, farming, community, environment, and education, and how they all work together to create a better world. He will discuss both the nitty gritty of how the PEAS farm model might help the Middlebury college farm grow, and also how he has seen the PEAS farm become more than just a space for agriculture.
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Greetings!
ACORN continues to build strong community connections and influence statewide initiatives. In October we had our first fundraiser bringing together people from every town in the county. Consumers and business folks enjoyed good food, good music and weathered the first chill of October in fine form. We thank all who contributed to our success- those who came out to support our work, donated products and services and our crackjack organizing team within ACORN.
The fundraiser is focused on farm to school, addressing distribution of local foods to our schools, strengthening the peer to peer network of our food service workers and needs addressed in our annual Stone Soup forum. Building on our past work, we have just been awarded a USDA grant to "strengthen the regional support structure for farmers and food service staff, create a community of practice among regional food hubs focused on school food procurement, and better demonstrate models of how regional food hubs support Farm to School programs and increase purchasing of local foods by schools." We look forward to working closely with our collaborators, food service workers, farmers, and communities to improve the local food access in our schools
ACORN is keeping busy on the capitalization side of food, farming and the entire working landscape. In partnership with the Addison County Economic Development Corporation and Addison County Regional Planning our second Financing the Working Landscape Conference is coming up on November 29th. See below for more details.
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ACORN is a Vermont non-profit currently working on specific projects to broaden Addison County's impact in the arena of food, agriculture, capitalization of small businesses and renewable energy resources. We build connections; the links are meant to show the array of Vermont-based resources. Kindly share ideas that can support our effort. JOIN ACORN shop the bounty of the county at the Middlebury winter farmer's market!  |
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ACORN Seminar: Financing the Working Landscape
Be part of the growing "local money" movement to better understand how to scale up the financing of your business. After food and energy, local capital is the third and critical capacity we must develop to relocalize our economy. ACORN , the Addison County Economic Development Corporation, and the Addison County Regional Planning Commission are pleased to announce a local money conference for networking Champlain Valley food, agriculture, and forestry businesses with regional capital providers to be held in Middlebury on November 29th.
Register Here!
The event aims to:
- To introduce entrepreneurs to local capital providers.
- To educate entrepreneurs about the capital continuum, stages of business development and how to prepare for capitalization.
- To catalyze opportunities for entrepreneurs through 3-minute pitches and networking.
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BIG Value in Small Businesses
Henry David Thoreau knew what he was saying when he crafted this affirmation used by budding entrepreneurs: "There is no beginning too small."
When you go to the farmer's market there is wonderful fresh produce, arts, crafts, the best jams and pickles, fresh cuts of meat. These markets often provide the first step in production and the emergence of a business. They set the ground work for relationship building and one on one promotion. These markets are the making of our future larger business.
Take for example The Selvage Yard an emerging business in Bristol. Julie Clark takes cast-off tee shirts and other clothing- retools, reuses, and reclaims- creating cool baby clothes, fashionable skirts AKA T-skirts and does a bang up job with it. Long a member of the Bristol Farmer's Market, she is stepping up to a store front on Bristol's Main Street. This will house her sewing studio and sales floor for her own line as well as a consignment shop, The Enchanted Closet.
Julie has taken one step at a time to scale her business to something that works not only for her business but ties her expansion into her needs at home too. So when looking to grow your business- there are so many factors- not least of all the relationship side. Julie's smiling face will be much more present now that her shop is open. Come on down to Bristol and see her unique clothing line AND see if there is something for you- besides a great smile of accomplishing the growth of her business.
Know too, that ACORN helps provide insights to capitalize and scale your business through our Financing the Working Landscape conference on November 29th!
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Bundle Up in Addison County Woolies!
Yup, the chill is setting in! Not only is it time to pull the woolies out- it is time to think about holiday purchases too. We have some very fine crafts people selling the bounty of the county woolens. There is a good list of area producers that are members of the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association. Many products are available on line and at craft or farmer's markets. 
If you happen to be looking online for a special gift, consider alpaca rugs and insoles. These are great to order direct , but if you are a small shop owner, the Vermont Fiber Mill can help you stock woolens at a variety of price points. They produce a newsletter filled with products and on-going classes. If you have wool that needs processing we have two local wool processors. Another great woolen resource for fiber artiist in Addison County is Vermont Fiber Factory in New Haven. Liz would love to connect with you about all your processing needs.
Again- in general local farmer's markets are great places to shop for presents and there are great finds from our wool producers.
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B2B: Scholten Cheese Wins Big:
Addison Cty Companies to Watch
Congratulations to Scholten Family Farm and their win at the Eastern States Exposition 2012 Big E Gold Medal Cheese Competition! Stop by the farm in Weybridge and make a purchase of their award winning cheese!
As stated on their website, "Scholten Family Farm promotes farming in a manner that improves and sustains the environment, practices good animal husbandry, and upholds personal values where family comes first. "Weybridge" is made with our own pasteurized organic milk to bring to your family a delicate, lactic-set bloomy rind cheese unique to our region. It is a delicious, wholesome food that no one should go without trying. Know where your food comes from and support local farms!" Again, well done!
Do you know a fabulous business deserving recognition for its contribution to Addison County's economic growth? Maybe it's your own business! Addison County Economic development Corporation is now accepting nominations for our inaugural Companies to Watch awards.Nominate a local business!
The awards will recognize businesses that are contributing to the county's economic growth and having a meaningful community impact. The awards will celebrate business innovation and entrepreneurial success in Addison County.  |
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F2S:Fresh Food Snacks
Bristol Elementary is serving up fresh produce for snacks as part of a healthy diet campaign. Kristen Andrews is working as a liaison with teachers and food service to help broaden the range of foods that kids are exposed to. By all accounts this is a great success! Our hats off to the entire BES team in working together to bring new food experiences to the kids. Getting kids to farms is one way to elicit excitement..but the morning and afternoon snacks are too! |
Home Gardeners Help Fill a Need and Build Alliances
Area food shelves and H.O.P.E. rely on many sources of food to feed those in need. Many farmers contribute surplus produce but they also undertake contracts to help secure fresh local food and agreed upon prices. Local gardeners share their bounty but there are gaps in the storage capacity at the food centers.
Members of the Addison County community and local organizations have been convening to help address the issue of fresh food storage for our food shelves. This is an area of interest in ACORN, MNFC, H.O.P.E., local farmers and CVOEO.
As you look ahead to your 2013 farm or garden consider if you can play a role in helping provide local food to our food shelves.
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Farm Labor Workshops: Vermont Department of Labor is Here
to Help!
Farmers are invited to attend a series of three workshops aimed to teach farm managers techniques and strategies to better manage their Hispanic agricultural employees. Training topics include: overcoming cultural and language barriers, worker health and housing strategies, legal issues and development of bilingual worker management documents that include job descriptions,training material and standard operating procedures.
What topics will be covered in the workshops?
Workshop 1
* Overcoming cultural and language barriers
* Worker health and safety protocols
* Worker housing management
Workshop 2
* Hiring procedures
* Legal issues and best practices (I-9's, Workers Comp, etc.)
* Creating job descriptions and worker expectation documents
* Initial worker training
Workshop 3
* Employee training
* Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
* How and why to use SOPs
* Development and implementation of SOPs
* Heat detection, milking procedures, calving records. Also of note.
VDL will help you scale your business labor record keeping as you grow. Farm businesses can easily grow from one category into another! Use their great resources and gain insights.
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Scaling Up Sales to Institutions
 On November 7, over 75 people gathered in a forum at UVM on scaling up local food sales to institutions. The event was sponsored by Sodexo, the Farm to Plate Network Aggregation & Distribution Working Group, and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
Producers, processors and distributors learned directly from Sodexo chefs and purchasing managers procurement details . Designed as an information exchange to increase the amount of local food being served at Sodexo's 18 food service sites throughout Vermont. 34,000 meals per day are cooked up daily providing potential opportunities.
Addison County was represented with producers and processors attending considering scaling up their sales. Sodexo met an array of food producers and distributors provided key insights. Producers left looking at their operations in new light. The forum met its goals of expanding connections between producers and buyers in its inaugural forum. Look to an upcoming AgReview for an update.
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Mark Your Calendars for Events & Opportunities!
Export Opportunities for Vermont Food Producers
Friday November 30, 2012 8:30am-5pm
Vermont Technical College, Randolph
Cost: $50 (includes lunch and light breakfast)
Join the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and Food Export-Northeast to discuss what it takes for a company to become export ready and capitalize on new exciting opportunities in the Caribbean market.For more information, contact Chelsea Bardot Lewis (802) 828-3360.
No Kid Left Behind Symposium
Wednesday November 28th from 9am-12pm
Noble Hall at Vermont College in Montpelier
At this symposium participants will explore what it will take to create a chevon (goat) market in Vermont by exploring the challenges and solutions on how to bring more value to Vermont's dairy goat farms by converting surplus livestock into a premium meat source. Call (802) 535.4110 to reserve your place at the table
Building a Sustainable Business
New Farmer Program Series
December 5, 12, & 19, and January 9, 16, 23 & 30, from 1-4pm
Berlin, Middlebury, Morrisville, and White River Junction
Cost: $175
The Building a Sustainable Business course guides participants through developing a business plan for farm businesses. For more information or to register go to UVM's New Farmer website. Scholarships and financial aid are available to those who are eligible.
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Thanks to all of you for sharing links and information. Because of your input, we keep growing and catalyzing our network. Please share our website to build the network widely!
Annie Harlow
ACORN Network
802-922-7060
ahhannieahh@yahoo.com
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