Day 15: VT land conservation, big picture systems terms, and food hub viability

Paul Foteyn's house on Lake Bomoseen.

I didn't post last night because we had our second "down day" (and so we weren't required to post). The President of GMC, Paul Fonteyn, invited us to his house on Lake Bomoseen, and it was a beautiful, relaxing day filled with boating, paddle boarding, swimming, and a delicious local/organic barbecue. We left GMC this morning and are back at UVM, ready for the VT Food Systems Summit tomorrow, which will bring together several hundred people to discuss the right to food.

This morning we chatted with Philip at GMC's farmhouse about Vermont's history through a land conservation lens. We talked about the conversion of New England woodlands to agricultural land during colonial times, which led to a history of soil loss, intense resource expansion, and water pollution/depletion. He told us about George Perkins Marsh, Sir Albert Howard, Lady Eve Balfour, and others who explored other landscapes, such as in Europe, to help them understand the "travesty to the landscape" back in New England. These discoveries, along with the Morrell Act of 1863 that established land grants and land grant institutions and the introduction of county fairs, helped lead to agricultural improvement in the mid-1800s. Philip also talked about the significance of the Soil Conservation Service (now known as the National Resource Conservation Service), land trusts, organic organizations, the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, and the Clean Water Act of 2008 in conserving VT resources, particularly soil and water.

GMC's Campus Farmhouse and front garden.

We then switched to a bigger picture conversation, in which we identified key terms from the last two weeks and tried to group them together to better understand the "systems" aspect of food systems, as well as how to make proper connections among the places we've seen and people we've spoken to. I enjoyed this activity primarily because it'll help me flush out what's important and be able talk about food systems and food policy with people who are unfamiliar with most of the terms. Some examples include food insecurity, food sovereignty, nutrient-dense, local/regional economies, rural revitalization, value-added, farm-to-institution, food hub, cooperatives, food justice, sustainable agriculture, diversified farming, organic practices, waste management, carbon sequestration, genetic engineering, labeling, social capital, and food miles.

For tonight's post we were asked to expand on one term and tease out where we've discussed it so far on our study tour. Food hub stands out to me the most, as it is a term that is becoming more and more critical in food systems conversations. According to the USDA, the National Food Hub Collaboration defines a regional food hub as:

"a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand."

Intervale Food Hub baskets.

I want to talk about regional food hubs through the frame of scale, as we've seen a wide variety of food hubs so far. Vern Grubinger discussed the market aspect of food hubs, as they can deliver local food at lower costs than farms would sell on their own, because of the aggregation. Further, they allow small-scale farms to compete with large-scale farms, because in the aggregation they act as a single large-scale operation. Hubs work with a variety of different farmers and types of products, so they can provide different types of consumers with a wide variety of products.

Intervale Food Hub truck, which distributes food 2x/week to
community delivery sites.

The VT Food Venture Center (VFVC) discussed food hubs broadly as operations that aggregate, process, distribute, and sell food. Examples include online farmers' markets and multi-farm CSAs, especially if there's a central location for aggregation and distribution, such as a warehouse or truck. VFVC was unique because they connect people who want to start food hubs, do market research on the supply and demand in a certain region, and help build relationships. They also mentioned VT examples, including the Mad River Food Hub, Green Mountain Farm Direct, Rutland Area Farm Food Link, and the Intervale Center Food Hub, which we visited as well.

The Intervale Food Hub (IFH) is a multi-farm year-round weekly food share that aggregates products from 30 local producers and distributes to customers at community delivery sites, such as workplaces, college and corporate campuses, schools, or churches. Their prices are comparable to local, organic products at a grocery store, and they distribute mainly produce, staple foods, and some value-added products. Their producers range in size from 1/2-acre greenhouses to 50-acre vegetable farms. The food hub is unique compared to other CSAs because it aggregates products from several producers and appeals to new types of customers through a convenience factor - the products are thoroughly washed and small quantities are packed in bags so the food is ready to cook/eat. The packages also include menu planning, recipe development, and cooking tips to attract the average consumer who might not normally be knowledgeable about CSAs or farm-fresh food.

A mural at VFVC depicting food systems: production,
aggregation, processing, delivery, and consumption.

In terms of scale, the IFH delivers small packages from a variety of small farms twice a week to 20-25 delivery sites for customers up to 30 miles away. Clearly, this is a very local/regional model that probably wouldn't work for more than a couple hundred customers or much more than their 30 small producers. It's an excellent way to open up new markets for their local producers, as well as a way to introduce new customers to local farmers, but the profit margins are small and subsidies are needed to keep it running.