More New Faces & Work Recognized
Beautiful in the overly simplified sense . . .
By Chris Callahan, Board Member
I grew up in a rural, agricultural area of western Massachusetts and my family raised a lot of our own food and still do. We cherish the meals we were able to share with the family and others in the community. Food is central to so much and yet inaccessible for so many. My skills and interests carried me away from the land and away from my rural roots traveling around the world working on a variety of high-tech projects in the renewable energy field. But, I found my way back home and love helping people apply engineering and business skills to farming and food systems. I’m a systems engineer who cares about people and despises avoidable suffering and waste.
I first learned about Salvation Farms due to a phone call from Theresa asking for some help planning a washing and packing room and walk-in cooler at one of Vermont’s Correctional Facilities. Because Theresa hasn’t ever stopped, neither has the conversation. Different locations, scaling up, adding new initiatives all have led to a wonderful decade of collaboration. The thing that has always struck me is that Salvation Farms started by going places and getting things nobody else would in order to serve people that needed help accessing healthy food.
There continues to be unharvested or unmarketed produce while there continues to be people who lack access to it. Salvation Farms’ work is beautiful in the overly simplified sense that it is the connector of these two realities.
Thankfully, I’m still learning about Salvation Farms and the intricacies, complexities, and nuance of the work. One of the things that is becoming clear to me is the potential the organization has beyond Vermont; the opportunity to support others in similar work serving other communities around the world.
Now, serving Salvation Farms as its newest Board member, I’d like to see the organization make the transition from founding and start-up to a new form of itself without losing the special characteristics that are so important to its work. I’d also like to see it serve as a supportive example for others to follow in doing the same in other places.
We are change makers . . .
By Koi Boynton, Assistant Director
In my previous life I was a television producer. Yup, you heard that right. So how did I get here leading food systems change in Vermont? After a decade in television, I had achieved my goals. While I loved traveling our state meeting small business owners and sharing their stories with Vermont viewers; I had grown tired of creating “mad lib” furniture commercials. I wondered what was next. What do you even do after a life in television?
Around that time, my husband saw a job posting at the VT Agency of Agriculture. They were looking for someone to lead school food change, support local purchasing and agricultural education. My husband saw the job posting first and said, “You need to do this.” He had witnessed my growing love of food and cooking. My many hours of making homemade baby food for our daughter and the long conversations with friends, talking ingredients and cooking techniques. After some convincing, I applied and found myself in state government.
As I worked to support the expansion of our state’s Farm to School program, I quickly became wowed by my community partners. It was the early days of locavore movement and Vermont’s local food system was storming ahead from the grassroots. One of these partners was Theresa Snow. Her mission to capture unmarketed local food and ensure all are fed, inspired me as it has so many others. I became a quick fan and cheerleader for all the efforts of Salvation Farms. Theresa and I even traveled together to our state prisons, learning about the Community High School of Vermont, and the existing greenhouses and gardens that support agricultural education at these facilities.
Fast forward to few years later, my career had taken me in a few directions but aligning more with the work of Salvation Farms. I was managing a gleaning program for Northwest VT and my path was crossing more and more with Salvation Farms. Theresa and I began connecting more as colleagues and eventually began to explore my employment at Salvation Farms. While we explored this over a few months, I was already on board. While I had entered this work for a love of food, I grew to realize that it was much deeper than that. It was about creating real change, reconnecting communities to the farms around them and ensuring all are fed. I knew that Salvation Farms shared my values and I wanted to be a part of that.
Now as I sit here a month and half in, I am proud to be a part of the team. While it is still about the work, it also about this amazing group of people. Each one of us is here because we are change makers, whether our motivation is hunger relief, supporting local farms, climate change, or social justice. Together, we are building a resilient food system that nourishes ALL. Now more than ever our work is necessary and urgent. During this global pandemic, we have all seen how fragile the reliance on global markets is. Our local and regional farms are the only thing we can count on to ensure our people are fed. I am grateful to be part of the team, and honored to support such amazing people as they work to fill the gaps and build resilience in our local food supply chains.
Fast forward to few years later, my career had taken me in a few directions but aligning more with the work of Salvation Farms. I was managing a gleaning program for Northwest VT and my path was crossing more and more with Salvation Farms. Theresa and I began connecting more as colleagues and eventually began to explore my employment at Salvation Farms. While we explored this over a few months, I was already on board. While I had entered this work for a love of food, I grew to realize that it was much deeper than that. It was about creating real change, reconnecting communities to the farms around them and ensuring all are fed. I knew that Salvation Farms shared my values and I wanted to be a part of that.
Now as I sit here a month and half in, I am proud to be a part of the team. While it is still about the work, it also about this amazing group of people. Each one of us is here because we are change makers, whether our motivation is hunger relief, supporting local farms, climate change, or social justice. Together, we are building a resilient food system that nourishes ALL. Now more than ever our work is necessary and urgent. During this global pandemic, we have all seen how fragile the reliance on global markets is. Our local and regional farms are the only thing we can count on to ensure our people are fed. I am grateful to be part of the team, and honored to support such amazing people as they work to fill the gaps and build resilience in our local food supply chains.
Governor Scott Recognizes Salvation Farms
In a letter dated December 21st 2021, Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott thanked Salvation Farms for its efforts to spread joy and kindness. Accompanying the letter was an official Executive Department Recognition for the organization’s work to reduce food loss and expand access to locally grown food for all Vermonters.