Fruitful Thresholds

Come one, come all! Inspired by Farm Aid, Salvation Farms Aid features some of your favorite Vermont musicians covering the music of past Farm Aid performers.

Marie Claire plays Bonnie Raitt,Bill Mullins Band plays The Kinks, John Fusco & the X-Road Riders plays John Mellencamp, Seth Yacovone (solo) plays Neil Young, and Blues for Breakfast plays Bob Dylan.

Friday, November 1st at ArtsRiot in Burlington. A $20, all ages show. Doors open at 7:00, music starts at 8:00. Get your tickets here: ArtsRiot.com.

A signed, framed poster from Phish, a collection of books from Chelsea Green Publishing, and a ski, stay, and splash package from Jay Peak Resort will be among the Salvation Farms Aid silent auction items.

Salvation Farms Aid is presented by Vermont Coffee Company, WIZN, and Ben & Jerry’s. Additional support has been provided by Rock Art Brewery, City Market Coop, and The Alchemist.

As the summer winds down, the harvest season is gears up Cae Keenan, our new Director of Programs shares some reflections. “I joined Salvation Farms’ team in late June of this year, just as farms across Vermont - and much of the country - began drying out from a wet spring. All of the sudden there were enough warm, sunny days in row to gain momentum. It seemed early summer arrived to say: Catch up! And just like that, we were off to the races.”

“My first few weeks carried similar spirit. Much of my focus in 2019 is dedicated to our Lamoille Valley Gleaning program. This affords me the opportunity to visit area farms, glean surplus and second-grade produce, and distribute that harvest to organizations and institutions serving our community. Operating in the middle of these relationships is a true privilege – not just because farm business owners welcome Salvation Farms into their fields and coolers, and not just because food shelves, youth organizations, meal sites, and health care facilities are willing to incorporate fresh produce into their nutrition programs. But also because the quality of fruits and vegetables gleaned and distributed by Salvation Farms, and all members of the Vermont Gleaning Collective, is so high. Be it slightly blemished, off-color, a little crooked or simply surplus – we are capturing nutritious, edible, locally grown, valuable produce and moving it into the food systems of towns and communities across Vermont.”

“That reality is cause for celebration and excitement: Salvation Farms has determined that millions of pounds of unsold produce exist on farms annually, and every day we find that food to be of very high quality, full of potential. It is a gift to help connect the dots.”

“It is also cause for urgency and creative action: We know this produce exists, in large volumes, with regularity. So, what can we do with it? How can we capture it all? Who needs to be involved? And, how do we embrace the value of surplus produce to benefit farms and the institutions and individuals who could, do, and will use it?”

“The commitment to answering these questions and others highlights the uniqueness of Salvation Farms’ purpose. Truly responding to on-farm crop surplus means piloting programs, committing to research, and leading national conversations that affect change in the markets and supply chains of our food system. We exist to ensure that fresh, local produce is provided to communities in need today, and to strengthen the systems that will securely feed us all in the future. That long and short-term focus demands thoughtfulness, stick-to-itiveness, and a willingness to re-imagine how we eat. Salvation Farms remains up to the challenge!”

Lots of noteworthy activities have occurred since our summer blog post. With support from the Windham Foundation, we invested in an industrial grade processor for dicing and slicing, and a food mill for pulping and pureeing - exciting! This equipment has increased our efficiency when processing fruits and vegetables for freezing, while also exposing our job–readiness trainees to an increased variety of food handling equipment. We will continue creating and exploring new frozen products this fall, including pureed winter squash and apple sauce.

This year, the Vermont Commodity Program celebrated the completion of its first ever summer cohort. This condensed 8-week training was completed by five “transitional youth,” young adults between the ages of 16-24, enrolled or recent high school graduates. Trainees quality assessed and packed potatoes stored from last fall and minimally processed for freezing fresh summer fruits and vegetables including strawberries, kale, summer squash and bell peppers. Trainees also engaged in work readiness training, ServSafe Certification, field trips and career exploration with leaders in Vermont’s food and manufacturing industries.

Our fall training launched in late August with our first processing and freezing of tomatoes and we are already receiving shipments of Vermont’s fall harvest! Tis the season.

Our Lamoille Valley Gleaning program has enjoyed a productive year so far. To date, 95 volunteers have contributed over 330 hours, gleaning more than 229,940 servings of produce from 13 farms with distributions serving 33 recipient sites. From strawberries to spinach—we’ve collected 43 different crop types. It is the committed volunteers and strong farm partnerships that make this work possible. We always look to connect with more farms and engage more community members in our gleaning. If you would like to get involved, give us a call: 802-888-4360.

Lamoille Valley Gleaning has forged exciting new partnerships that we anticipate will last well into the future. In August, we deepened a partnership with the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging (NEKCoA) to incorporate more fresh produce into Meals on Wheels menus serving seniors living in Vermont’s northeast region. Together with NEKCoA, we are distributing gleaned fruits and vegetables to five Meals on Wheels kitchens in the Northeast Kingdom, fueling several hundred meals each week.

Meals on Wheels sites currently served through this new partnership include: Barton Area Senior Services,Glover Senior Meals, Lake Region Senior Center (Orleans), Burke Senior Meal Program (West Burke), and Lyndon Area Senior Meal Program (Lyndonville). We are excited to work with meal site directors and chefs, NEKCoA, and regional organizations/businesses to increase access to and use of surplus produce in Vermont’s Orleans, Caledonia, and Essex counties.

Other evolutions in our Lamoille Valley Gleaning program are on the threshold. Our team is laying the foundation to pilot our distribution of gleaned produce “shares” direct to eligible individuals and families and we are eager to move our gleaning program to a new operating facility.

The United Way of Lamoille County (UWLC) headquartered in Morrisville, Vermont, operates many programs including

The Lamoille Wood Bank, Snow Shoveling for Seniors, and Vermont 211, among others and in addition to providing funding to local organizations. The UWLC also owns a historic barn in downtown Morrisville.

Through a blossoming partnership with Salvation Farms, it was identified that this space could serve a critical need in fostering community health if renovated. The barn is the right size to house our Lamoille Valley Gleaning program, providing for its infrastructural and operational needs.

The UWLC is committed to renovating this space for Salvation Farms’ use. The renovation includes reinforcing the existing structure and adding insulation, electricity, and plumbing. Windows, doors, and interior stairs will be replaced, and an ADA bathroom, waste oil furnace, and walk-in cooler will all be added to the space. The second floor will be transformed into office and meeting space; the first floor will house equipment and infrastructure for safe food handling and supply storage.

The renovation is estimated to cost $98,000. The UWLC has received funding through a USDA Rural Development Grant,Community Bank NA, City Market Coop, and several in-kind donations. The project’s funding gap is only $17,000 and there is an $8,000 matching contribution currently on the table.

Jim Curran, UWLC Executive Director states “Salvation Farms’ Lamoille Valley Gleaning program is a very important piece of the Lamoille Valley’s system of care, which directly impacts 33 separate organizations and programs. It is our pleasure to put this building to good use.”

This project is an exciting opportunity for Salvation Farms. This space will allow our Lamoille Valley Gleaning program the ability to evolve our program in ways we currently cannot – expanding our services, deepening regional partnerships, increasing community engagement and community food security. This project will ultimately improve community health by expanding Lamoille Valley Gleaning program’s capacity to handle increased quantity of produce and diversify distribution methods (like adding a share model), all while offering greater volunteer and community education opportunities.

To learn more visit: uwlamoille.org/how-to-help/capital-campaign.html

Salvation Farms continues to celebrate the work of and our collaboration with the member organizations of the Vermont Gleaning Collective.

Koi Boynton, Healthy Roots Collaborative Co-Coordinator & Vermont Gleaning Collective Co-Chair shares: “The Gleaning Collective is a wonderful way for the gleaning organizations from around the state to stay connected through ongoing communication and two meetings annually. Collectively, we can examine how we are delivering our core services and learn from each other. We are also able to dive deeper into models for education or volunteer retention, making all of our programs more robust in the long-term. A recent accomplishment has been shared gleans. We identified the need to join each other in gleaning when the bounty is just too large for one organization to take. This summer we have been making it happen and are able to make the most out of abundance in the field”

CONGRATULATIONS to one of the Vermont Gleaning Collective members, Community Harvest of Central Vermont who won $10,000 from the Red Sox Foundation.

Are you a Vermont State employee... Do you know about VtSHARES? Salvation Farms has been accepted into the 2019 VtSHARES campaign - a workplace giving campaign offering State of Vermont Employees to designate payroll deduction donations to specific nonprofit organizations in VT. This VtSHARES campaign is scheduled to run during the months of September and October.

$10 provides Salvation Farms the ability to: coordinate volunteers and glean approximately 38 servings of wholesome, locally grown produce from Vermont farms and distribute these gleanings to nutritionally insecure individuals living in Vermont.

$10 provides Salvation Farms the ability to: capture - through gleaning - approximately $19.00 worth of wholesome, Vermont grown produce that would have otherwise remained on farms, uneaten.

Salvation Farms is honored to have the support of local community organizations and businesses, like the United Way of Lamoille