UVM Food Feed

Are Insects the Next Frontier in Sustainable Food?

Posted by Alison Nihart | November 29, 2017

Mealworms. Waxworms. Crickets.

For most people, these words don’t evoke the thought of gourmet cuisine. Two UVM graduates are hoping to change that.

While entomophagy (eating insects) is not a common practice in the United States, these and other insects are culturally accepted components of many global cuisines and there is growing interest in incorporating “micro-livestock” into our diets to reduce the environmental impact of the food system.

UVM alums Julia Lees and Kitty Foster recently founded Laroua Foods, which specializes in processed insect-based foods.

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Posted in Environmental, UVM | Tagged Environment, food culture, local foods, UVM | 2 Comments

Vermont’s Food System Workforce Dilemma

Posted by Guest Author | November 21, 2017

By Ellen Kahler
Executive Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

Vermont’s struggle to grow its workforce weakens our economy, inhibits the ability for Vermont businesses to expand their operations, and threatens the ability for Vermonters and future generations to grow and thrive here in the Green Mountains. An aging workforce, stagnant wages in jobs without career ladders, the cost of housing and childcare, the opioid epidemic, and a need for more young adults entering the workforce are all contributors to our workforce dilemma.

Vermont Smoke & Cure is a food system company that employs skilled Vermonters in a variety of different types of positions. (Photo/Vermont Smoke & Cure)

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Posted in Economic, Vermont | Tagged Economy, local foods, Vermont | Leave a comment

Amy Trubek Examines What Cooking Means in the Modern Age

Posted by Erica Houskeeper | November 16, 2017

My feelings about cooking are complicated. Sometimes I feel joy when I cook, and other times it’s more like shame. After reading “Making Modern Meals: How Americans Cook Today” by UVM Associate Professor of Nutrition and Food Science Amy Trubek, PhD, I was at once relieved and alarmed that I’m hardly alone.

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Posted in Culture | Tagged academic research, food culture, UVM | Leave a comment

UVM Is: Teresa Mares Studies Food Access Challenges Among Migrant Dairy Workers

Posted by Erica Houskeeper | November 14, 2017

Near the Vermont-Canadian border, migrant dairy workers are grappling with food insecurity and increasing anxiety. Living on the dairy farms where they are employed, undocumented migrant workers are often reluctant to go grocery shopping—or anywhere for that matter—for fear of detention and deportation by the federal border patrol.

Vermont is not often viewed as a border state like Texas, California, or Arizona. But for UVM anthropology Professor Teresa Mares, Vermont presents an interesting case study for research. The state has a unique combination of progressive politics along with a large concentration of dairy farms in the northern counties and regular immigration enforcement circulating near the Canadian border.

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Posted in UVM | Tagged academic research, dairy, farming, food access, UVM, Vermont | 9 Comments

The Return of a Sweet Campus Tradition at the UVM Dairy Bar

Posted by Guest Author | November 9, 2017

By Jeffrey Wakefield

Given that they’ve just launched an entire new consumer product line, this group of UVM employees is surprisingly calm, even content. Alfina gazes at a stranger and flicks an ear. Gillian nibbles a student’s sleeve.

Both are members of UVM’s teaching herd, 48 cows under the care of students in the university’s Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management, or CREAM, program.

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