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UVM Extension
NOFA VT & VT FEED
Food Education Every Day
Vermont Fresh Network
More Resource links from ACORN
AWC Report
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School food contractor meets with local farmers at the matchmaker securing local food purchases for 2013!
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NEW! Addison County Seed Savers & Sharers monthly meetings. Join ACORN board member Susan Smiley in wonderful discussions and active learning on SAVING & SHARING homegrown seeds.
Ya Girl Clothing for Women
"Ya Girl" pants are heavy-duty duck cloth, work pants for women. Whether you are logging, farming, gardening, or hiking these pants fit. Made in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Great fitting, hearty clothes for outdoorsy women.
Thank you to all the businesses who are advertising in the 2013 Local Food Guide! We value your support.
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Stop by the Love Shack on Route 7 in Ferrisburg and visit our friends for cookies that sustain!
How about a spring tonic? Soming soon to the Middlebury Coop & Mountain Greens & restaurants, fiddleheads & wild leeks! 
fresh food from good folks  signs of spring!
Shop the Middlebury Farmers Market for seasonal ingredients and local crafts. Saturdays 9:30-1:00 at Mary Hogan School until April 27th then head to the Marble Works for the summer shopping season.
Saying a sweet goodbye to the 2013 Sugaring season. What a great year it has been for many. |
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Greetings!
Spring is here and along with sugaring and seedlings comes a general sense of getting things done- like spring cleaning. If you by chance are cleaning house and have quality clothes that can be resold...please consider our friends at Neat Repeats Resale Shop in downtown Middlebury. They generously gave to ACORN in support of the Jr Iron Chef's saute pan campaign. Thanks to them we made our goal. When dropping off your clean, good condition clothing, let them know you want the proceeds to go to ACORN- and they send us a check when sold!
As for getting things done- we have had some great workshops and our annual Matchmaker brought together producers and buyers in useful relationship building. Thanks to Richard Wiswall for helping us get a clean look at how we organize our businesses.
We are excited to announce we have an intern from Middlebury College Food Works helping us with a number of summer intiatives. From research to gardens this will be a great asset in our work. Woth Linnea's help we will continue our project-based work while addressing food-farm-business and school issues.
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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 the bounty of the county is alive and well at local greenhouses!  |
Attention Young Writers (& those who influence them)
The Young Writers Project and the Vermont Community Foundation are working together on a farm writing challenge for Vermont students, K-12. The writing deadline is April 12, so I hope this is reaching you in time. Here are the instructions and overview for this statewide writing competition.
 This ties in well with the NOFA Penpal Program that connects classrooms with farms, via handwritten letters. It also encourages new ways to look at food. Along with that, we it introduces more adults into students' lives. Penpal classrooms are well connected in Addison County, but more classrooms are encouraged to participate. Please contact Andrea Scott for details 897-2779.
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Coming Soon Local Food and Farms Guide
Our Guide is packed with useful information, and with the help of the Addison Independent, look for it in your mailbox soon. It will also be available at local outlets with a wonderful cover from Pete Sutherland of Monkton. Look for it April 18th!
Cheers go out to the team of Susan Smiley, Jonathan Corcoran and Lea Calderon-Guthe. The new format brings a plethora of new details and a fantastic layout for easier use. We appreciate and value ALL the advertisers who support the resource guide.
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Farm to School
Stone Soup, ACORN's Farm to School Summit, brought together a wide network of food, farm and school folks to keep the conversations strong. We were pleased to see principals from Addison Cty schools attending; Andy Kepes of Mt Abe, and June Sargent from VUES and Lynn Coale from PAHCC. They heard the stories of community member making significant farm to school contributions.
Mt Abe Environmental Action Group student leaders, Izzy Moody and Lousia Rozendaal told the tale of how two students can effect change with their work on starting a compost project. Mary Hogan School board member Billy Connelly spoke of allocating resources for quality food in our schools. Also sharing stories of Farm to School success were Gaye Truax Food Service Director at Salisbury School, farmer Eugenie Doyle of The Last Restort Farm, Ruth Beecher teacher at Starksboro Community School and Suzanne Young from Mary Johnson Preschool.
 The Junior Iron Chef teams under the leadership of amazing food service workers and community members provided a truly remarkable feast. To top it off, each chef received a beautiful 8 inch saute pan as a token of ACORN's appreciation of their leadership in both the culinary arts and personal dvelopment of lifelong skills. We gratefully thank our sponsors, Citizens Bank, the Addison County Eagles Club and Neat Repeats Resale Shop.
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Farmer2Farmer: To Barter or not to Barter...
Bartering seems like a great way to build your business and reduce expenses. But one has to learn the way the IRS interprets bartering and its impact on income.
A recent thread in the VVBGA list serve brought out many comments, some informed, some not so much. A key point from the farmer perspective: "Remember that whatever form the barter takes, for IRS purposes, barter or trade in kind is still a cash transaction and IRS can get nasty if you don't treat it that way. Unless of course you do all of it under the table....and that can get very tricky.'
It is common for farm-based businesses to have a VT Department of Labor audit and bartering is scrutinized. You want to make sure you can account for all your income-including from barters.
Want to stay abreast of farm2farmer open source sharing & conversations? Join the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association!
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Coming Up This week!
April 11th UVM Practical Food Safety for Vegetable and Fruit Producers includes a special section with Chris Callahan on storage. This workshop is in partnership with ACORN through a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation. Contact Cheryl Herrick to register 802-656-5459
JOBS: New Farm Position Listings
Farm Manager: Elmer Farm
East Middlebury,
VT Year Round Position
planning, planting, harvesting, marketing for CSA and wholesale production. 802-388-3848
Lalumiere Farm in Ferrisburg: Farm Helpers needed
This is a seasonal position, starting in April. Please call if you are interested in planting, harvesting and weeding on a successful market farm: 802-349-7782
Gildrien Farm, Leicester, Seeks Farm Manager
Caitlin and Jeremy are seeking farm workers for their organic farm with CSA. Experience is helpful for this seasonal position. Please call 802-247-4699 or email Jeremy for details
Sweet Hill Farm Seeks, New Haven Seasonal Farm Help
This family run operation has an opening to work closely in a team. Located on Route 7 between Vergennes and Middlebury, the farm specializes in corn, a wide range of vegetables and direct sales at the farm stand. Contact Diane for more information 453-7751
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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
annieharlowahh@gmail.com
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