By Alison Nihart
The University of Vermont is on track to surpass its current goal of purchasing 20 percent local, sustainable, fair, and humane food. In the 2015-2016 school year, 19 percent of the food purchased by UVM Dining qualified as “real,” according to the Real Food Challenge, indicating that the institution is likely to exceed 20 percent Real Food by 2020, the current target date.
By Caitlin Gildrien
“When people tell me they’re thinking about getting into cheese, I tell them to get pigs.” Mateo Kehler of Greensboro’s Jasper Hill Farm pauses. “In fact, I wish we’d gotten pigs before we got cows.”
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons
Pigs, of course, have long been central players in farmstead operations, turning the various inevitable wastes of any farm into valuable meat. And they have a particularly special place on traditional dairies, given that the typical conversion of fluid milk to cheese is only about 20 percent, meaning that 80 percent of the weight of the milk is left over as whey. Feeding whey to pigs is a tradition worldwide. For example, the hogs that become Italy’s famous prosciutto de Parma are traditionally raised largely on the whey from the production of the region’s other specialty, Parmigiano Reggiano. And pigs are generous fans of cheese itself, including scraps, overly experimental batches, or those that go awry.
By Taylar Foster
How can a hospital contribute to the Northeast Kingdom’s food system?
Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) in St. Johnsbury does so by sourcing locally made food from regional producers, offering educational programming to improve eating and cooking knowledge, and collaborating on innovative and new endeavors to secure access to food for those most in need, which are all goals of the Vermont Farm to Plate Strategic Plan.
NVRH is one of five health care facilities partnering with the Vermont Food Bank on its pilot VeggieVanGo program.
By Laura Hardie
Vermont’s Breakfast on the Farm returns with two events this summer where visitors can meet local dairy farmers and learn about where their food comes from the first will be at Nea-Tocht Farm in Ferrisburgh on Saturday, June 25. The second will be hosted by the Rowell Family of Green Mountain Dairy Farm in Sheldon on Saturday, August 27.
Vermont Breakfast on the Farm began in 2015 as a way to give the public a first-hand look at modern food production. Last year, over 550 visitors ate breakfast at Nea-Tocht farm then set off on an educational walking tour of the farm facilities to see where the cows and calves are housed, how the cows are milked, and how their feed is produced. Volunteers and educational stations promoted Vermont’s largest agricultural sector—the dairy industry—and its role as an economic driver for the state as is detailed in the state leadership goal of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan.
By Andrea Solazzo
An estimated 70 billion pounds of food goes to waste in America each year, while nearly 48 million people in the United States feel the effects of food insecurity. Gleaning—the practice of collecting and donating excess foods—helps simultaneously address both waste and food insecurity. More important, it also gives low-income individuals access to fresh and locally grown foods that are not always available in their communities.
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons
