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Look for our Local Food Guide around the county & in the Add Indy next week!
A big thank you to Vermont Heritage Grazers, The Alt Ed Micro-Green Team & the Hannaford Career Center Chefs for the Stone Soup Feast!
Spring is here!
Want to buy your groceries at wholesale pricing? Middlebury Foods is a non- profit selling direct to you with pick-ups in Middlebury, Vergennes & Ferrisburg. Find ways to save money on your food bill
Great resources for farms & retailers!
Support the advertisers in the Local Food Guide!
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Please give generously to the Environmental Action Group
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Spring is all about cookies & creemees! Stop in at Cookie Love on Route 7 in Ferrisburg for the rite of spring!
Need hard ice cream to go with those cookies? Try lu.lu in Bristol for small batch flavors. A big shout out for their custom Stone Soup flavor. Keep updated with seasonal specialties
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Does your business want to support our youth? Donate to ACORN by July 1 and we will apply to the Junior Iron Chef campaign or Tools for Schools programming! A little goes a very, very long way!
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Listening to the sweet drip of spring at Mosquito Bush in Monkton!
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~~~~~~~~~~~  Ferrisburg art teacher Alison Parsons is this year's Local Food Guide cover artist!
Contact her for special commissions, cards, prayer flags, tee-shirt and more!
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Spring flavors are in at Aqua Vitea! Drink to your health
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Stone Soup! A Great Event
 ACORN hosted its first full day farm to school conference at Middlebury College with unbridled support from our local community and statewide partners. Inspired by the keynote of Kathy Alexander 100 attendees learned, shared and networked all things school food, gardens, nutrition. Of the five years we have hosted Stone Soup, this event showcased our commitment to network building and leadership sharing. ACORN Board member Emily Hoyler led the charge to broaden our horizon deftly leading a geographically spread out group of organizers.
 A few highlights were w onderful greens for our lunch provided by students from Middlebury Union High School Alternative Ed. They also presented their garden and greenhouse programming at a packed workshop-inspirational for all who attended. Our friends at Green Mountain Farm to School hosted a Harvest of the Month workshop with food service and teachers learning how to best incorporate the excellent curriculum and marketing tools into their work. We had a fantastic feast prepared by the culinary students from the Patricia A Hannaford Career Center. ACORN awarded each student chef with a saute pan sponsored by the Basin Harbor Club.
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We are a volunteer board with a hired communications director working on specific projects to broaden Addison County's impact in the arena of food,
agriculture, capitalization of small businesses and renewable energy resources. The links are meant to show the array of Vermont-based resources. Kindly share ideas that can support our effort. Thank you for supporting our work.
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ACORN to Lea: Sunnyside Up!
 The ACORN Board thanks you for your excellent contributions made as our first manager. You contributed greatly in our effort to build the network. Your creative marketing was a thrill to engage and always tantalizing. We, along with so many members, will keep in touch as you continue to succeed with all your endeavors. Thanks for all you gave to us as we grew together. We know you will succeed in reaching new heights to build farm to plate networks.
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Sustainable Living Expo: A Great Event!
ACORN in partnership with the ACORN Energy Coop and under the Leadership of Elizabeth Golden Pidgeon put on quite the show! Vendors across the sustainability spectrum showcased their goods and services while workshops covering everything from bees to personal wellness were on-going.
 This event highlighted the rich energy and wellness initiatives and small businesses across our region of Vermont. With over 600 attendees taking in the variety of exhibits think of it as the perfect way to beat the end of March cabin fever! We thank our diverse sponsors and all who attended inspiring sustainability at any and all levels. |
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MUHS "Bean Queens" Win Junior Iron Chef!
It was the first time entering the statewide Junior Iron Chef competition and the Middlebuy Union High School takes top honors in the local food category! Congratulations to Nathalie, Sonia and Sophie under the leadership of math teacher Michele Magnano for taking it to the top! 
ACORN holds the student teams in high regard by awarding each winner a 10 inch saute pan. We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors, Neat Repeats and Basin Harbor Club. Executive Sous Chef Juan Carlos Brenes presented the students with their pan as part of Wellness Day at the school. Congratulations to Nathalie, Sonia and Sophie under the leadership of math teacher Michele Magnano for taking it to the top!
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Gardening Resources
Free Seeds For Gardens! The Vermont Community Garden Network has vegetable, flower, and herb seeds for school and community gardens. Submit your request & receive a big bundle of seeds for your garden project!
In case you missed these resources..
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Local Food Pilot Program at Schools
A grant from the Vermont Community Foundation is helping the VT Food Venture Center increase the supply of fresh cut and frozen vegetables from local farmers to meet the school market demand. They work with NOFA-VT, the Intervale Center, and other organizations to secure the aggregation, processing, and delivery of 2,400 pounds of fresh cut carrots, beets, and potatoes from six different farms to 80 schools.
 ACORN helped distribute free samples to school food service directors to evaluate the products, they can then place an order. All the produce was from Vermont and based on initial responses, the quality was excellent. The intent is to have local producers supply our schools with produce processed at the VFC. The Salisbury school loved the flavors and the packaging. Survey data from schools on the usage and affordability will be collected this spring, as planning begins for the 2014-2015 school year and beyond.
Are you a grower who would like to supply this market?
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Opportunities & Events
Gildrien Farm is hiring vegetable farm workers for the 2014 season. Full and part time positions available. Activities include seeding, planting, harvesting, and washing. Pay commensurate with experience. Contact Jeremy for details
Spring Cleaning? Donate your clean, in great condition clothes to Neat Repeats in Middlebury mentioning ACORN as the recipient. It's a great way to support our Junior Iron Chef initiative.
Williston Farmers' Market seeks vendors for the 2014 season
Modular Cathedral Tunnel Building for Four-Season Vegetable Production; April 26 10am-1pm $30.00 advance
May 18th from 11 - 3 ; The event supports HOPE farm gleaning and celebrates solar energy. Stop by, learn, support HOPE and purchases your garden bedding plants! Become a friend of HOPE on Facebook.
Vermont Foodbank's Hunger Action Conference May 9th
Sheraton Burlington, VT Here is the link to the leadership conference agenda & registration
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Thanks to all of you for sharing links and information. Please share our website to build the network widely!
Annie Harlow
ACORN Network
802-922-7060
annie@acornvt.org
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Edible Landscaping / Permaculture Workshop