Connecticut River Valley Farmers Help Water Quality in the Long Island Sound

By Cheryl Herrick

A member of the Pasture Program here at the UVM Extension Center for Sustainable Agriculture signs off on his emails with the quote, “To break a paradigm, think big, start small and act fast!”  It’s a phrase that comes to mind when we consider the Center’s role in the multi-state Long Island Sound Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (LISW-RCPP).

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These cows on a Connecticut River Valley farm in central Vermont are demonstrating “Mob Grazing,” an approach to pasture rotation that increases soil organic matter and in so doing keeps more nutrients in the soil (where they belong) and out of the water (where they don’t).

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Literary Dinner Series Takes On Old English Classic

By Hailey Grohman

Literary-themed meals certainly aren’t a new phenomenon—blogs like Food in Literature share recipes from texts including Harry Potter, The Great Gatsby, and more—but the book featured in next month’s Isolé Dinner Club doesn’t immediately recall culinary memories.

literary-dinner-series

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Why We Need a National Food Plan

Editor’s note: While UVM is a leading academic institution in the transdisciplinary study of food systems and home to many experts, we also occasionally share the perspectives of our colleagues at other colleges and universities. 

By Anne Kapuscinski

With this most unusual and divisive presidential election season heading into its final stretch, the candidates are narrowing their focus on swing states, including New Hampshire. But when they come courting voters, will they speak to issues that matter most to our families, our health, our economies and our well-being?

national-food-plan

Photo: Flickr

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Alumna 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, she lived in a culture that accepted eating locally and regionally as the norm. Those two experiences resonated and continue to influence the work she does today.

farm-to-school

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Learning the Business of Local Food in the UVM Food Hub Program

Benjamin Bartley’s career has touched many facets of the food industry, from baker, cook, and butcher to educator, advocate, and program director. The University of Florida alumnus, who graduated with degrees in religion and political science, completed UVM’s Food Hub Management Certificate Program last year.

Now a value chain specialist at La Montañita Co-op in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Benjamin is taking what he learned in the Food Hub program and applying those tools to his work.

food-hub-program
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