local food
Farmer Training Certificate Program Inspires Student To Open Tortilleria
Brandon Chase’s personal and professional goals include living sustainably, spending time outdoors, and opening a tortilleria in Washington State. After living in Vermont for the past six months, the California native is looking to make big changes in his life as he plans to move to the San Juan Islands with his wife, Lila. Chase, […]
Alumni Advice: Danielle Fleury Finds Farm to School Success in the Northeast
Burlington’s progressive values are what first attracted Danielle Fleury to UVM. It wasn’t long after she arrived on campus that she became personally interested in local food systems. While taking an environmental studies course at UVM, she first learned about food as an environmental issue. Later on, while studying abroad in France her junior year, […]
Kim Bayer Helps Envision Michigan’s Food Hub Future
Kim Bayer, center, of the Washtenaw Food Hub. By Mariette Landry While working as project manager and co-founder of the Washtenaw Food Hub, a 16-acre historic farm located north of Ann Arbor, Mich., Kim Bayer enrolled in UVM’s 10-month Food Hub Management Professional Certificate Program. “There were so many great things about the program,” she […]
Certificate Student Helps the Texas Food System Find its Footing
(Photo: Farmers’ market in Dallas by John Tornow/Flickr) Texas and Vermont are two places where residents feel a tremendous amount of state pride and the roots of agriculture tend to run deep. But when it comes to local food systems, The Lone Star State and The Green Mountain State are very far apart. Texas produces […]
Student Aims to Help Food System Challenges in Alaska
As President Obama visits Alaska this week to address climate change, we talked to Anchorage dietitian Grace Schumacher, a student in UVM’s online Breakthrough Leaders Professional Certificate in Sustainable Food Systems, about the challenges in food system development in the 49th state. Schumacher works in nutrition education at an Anchorage hospital, helping patients find ways […]
Heart of Gold: Neil Young Congratulates Vermont for GMO Food Labeling Stance
(Photo: Takahiro Kyono/Flickr) By Cynthia Belliveau, EdD Dean of UVM Continuing and Distance Education Rarely do you get wowed these days. We’re surrounded by a constant barrage of scintillating information that distracts us at every turn. That’s why, when I write this, I really mean it when I say that the Neil Young concert on […]
When it Comes to Food Justice, Am I a Marxist?
(Photo: Natalie Maynor/Flickr) By Darryl Benjamin An interesting thing happened to me on my way to the Farm-to-Table movement. I discovered I might be a Marxist. More to the point, I found that my thinking was in agreement with some Marxist tenets, and, for a short while, I panicked. Is it really true? Am I […]
To Label or Not to Label: The Debate on GMO Labeling Laws
By Darryl Benjamin As the debate rages on between those who want GMO food products to carry labels and those who don’t, a larger question looms quietly in the background: does access to information make a difference? An escalating number of lawsuits by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Snack Food Association, International Dairy Foods Association, and […]
The Right to Food: Power, Policy, and Politics in the 21st Century
All people deserve access to adequate, nutritious food. The complicated and provocative question for the fourth annual UVM Food Systems Summit on June 16-17 is how to provide this basic human right. Globally and in Vermont, the stakes are profound. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, one in nine people worldwide are […]
Why Food Hubs Need Skilled Employees for Long-Term Viability
Food hubs are gaining traction in the local food movement. But as with any viable enterprise, operating a food hub requires a diverse set of skills to succeed. The United States Department of Agriculture announced last month that it’s spending millions to support local food and regional food systems – including food hubs – and […]
