Local Food Systems

vpr.net

Welcome to the Information Hub for local-food advocates, businesses and organizations in the Central Vermont Region.

In the fall of 2011 CVRPC was awarded a Building Healthy Communities grant through the Vermont Department of Health.  The purpose of this grant was to identify community based policy and environmental strategies that support the Fit and Healthy Vermonters 2020 program goals of reducing the proportion of adults, children, and adolescents that are obese.  CVRPC completed research, information gathering and gathering public input to guide the creation of a central repository of information.  The intent was to ensure greater distribution, more frequent updating of information and facilitation and networking among local and state food systems groups to increase access to healthy local food.  This effort will help establish baseline data in order to begin work on a regional food systems plan-essentially a blueprint for promoting local food, sustaining agricultural economic development, and increasing the availability of fresh, nutritional food.

There are many active and efficient grassroots organizations and governmental agencies addressing different facets of the local food system throughout the region.  As a liaison between local towns and state government, CVRPC’s website will serve as a clearinghouse for a wide variety of local-food data for any interested people and organizations in the region and beyond.

As a direct result of the Building Healthy Communities Grant, CVRPC completed the CVRPC Regional Food System Assessment, which will serve as a working guidance document to be included in the 2016 Regional Plan, or Plan Central Vermont: Shaping Our Region from the Ground Up.  CVRPC continues to work with the Central Vermont Food Systems Council, supports the Garden in Every Washington County School Initiative, and participates in the Vermont Farm to Plate Farmland Access and Stewardship Working Group.

Follow the links to Websites of food councils in the region, farms, food businesses, organizations and data — and join the discussion on our blog.

Programs