Expanding economic opportunities for Cabot farms and local food, by Lori Augustyniak

This past year, COVID-19 has greatly increased a need and desire for a resilient community and local sources of healthy food. The Greater Cabot Working Lands Network (GCWLN) and the CCA Economic Development Workgroup* have joined forces on two projects that will expand economic opportunities for working lands-based enterprises, such as farms and food processors. CabotVermontGrown.org is a new online directory of Cabot area food and farm businesses that will be previewing soon. And the natural extension of the directory is a full-fledged Cabot Food Hub to aid in the distribution of locally produced food products, including fruit, vegetables, maple, honey, herbs, nursery stock, meat, and more. 

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​These projects are sure to benefit local food producers and farms, and in turn promote tourism, outdoor recreation, sustainable resource use, and the aesthetic value of the working landscape.
CabotVermontGrown.org and the Cabot Food Hub will accomplish these goals by keeping food dollars local and encouraging sales to Cabot residents from Cabot businesses.  The Chronicle asked Allison Gulka-Millard, a consultant on this project, and Elizabeth Vitale, Cabot Food Hub Coordinator to tell us about these projects and how Cabot residents can participate:
This past year, COVID-19 has greatly increased a need and desire for a resilient community and local sources of healthy food. The Greater Cabot Working Lands Network (GCWLN) and the CCA Economic Development Workgroup* have joined forces on two projects that will expand economic opportunities for working lands-based enterprises, such as farms and food processors. CabotVermontGrown.org is a new online directory of Cabot area food and farm businesses that will be previewing soon. And the natural extension of the directory is a full-fledged Cabot Food Hub to aid in the distribution of locally produced food products, including fruit, vegetables, maple, honey, herbs, nursery stock, meat, and more. These projects are sure to benefit local food producers and farms, and in turn promote tourism, outdoor recreation, sustainable resource use, and the aesthetic value of the working landscape.
Why make a directory of Cabot farms and food businesses?
Allison: Agriculture is absolutely a key part of our local economy. The goals of CabotVermontGrown.org are to stimulate the local economy, highlight the amazing food businesses and farms we have in town, and help customers connect with their farming neighbors. The CabotVermontGrown.org directory will launch soon and provide residents and visitors a single web location to locate farms and food businesses in Cabot.
Did work on these projects just start during the pandemic?
Allison: The onset of the pandemic really highlighted the importance of local food more than ever before, and gave us the push we needed to get this project rolling. The GCWLN has been talking for several years about designing a directory to help connect local producers to one another and to potential customers.The pandemic not only focused our committee’s efforts but compelled a few individuals and organizations to make charitable contributions to the CCA to promote local farms. Once we had ideas and funding, the project started to happen.
Who can participate in CabotVermontGrown.org?
Allison: CabotVermontGrown.org is for any farm or food producer. We invite all entities, longstanding producers with an established web presence, new farms, and everyone in between, to participate by creating a free listing. You might sell vegetables, dairy products, meat, maple, baked goods, pickles, etc. We will work with each producer to help gather the information needed to complete their listing and keep it up to date. We hope  that the directory will be used by everyone in our community. If you are looking to learn more about what your neighbors are selling, or trying to connect with a business directly to buy their products, this directory should have the information you need.
How can farms and food producers  sign up for the CabotVermontGrown.org online directory?
Allison: We are asking for farmers and  food producers to sign up using an online form. We will follow up with each interested business to collect additional information and images. If you are a producer, please email CabotVermontGrown@CabotVermont.org to request a link to the online form or call 802-279-4309 for a hardcopy.s
Where do you see this project going in the future?
Allison: We hope that CabotVermontGrown.org will encourage new connections and help us keep our food dollarslocal. We will continue updating and adding to the directory so that it stays relevant and useful. Down the road, we anticipate promoting the site to visitors and tourists, we may expand our listings to include some neighboring towns and we hope eventually the directory will include information on all Cabot businesses.
Why does Cabot need a Food Hub?
Elizabeth: The Cabot Food Hub will give our community convenient access to an increasing variety of products grown and made by their neighbors. It will simultaneously support our local producers to increase sales and share their products with their neighbors. The Cabot Food Hub will work closely with Faith in Action so that our Producer Partners will also have a regular and easy way to donate excess products to Faith in Action’s Food Share Program. This ensures good, local food can be enjoyed by everyone in our community. This means that the Cabot Food Hub will strengthen our local food economy while also contributing to local food security.
How does the Cabot Food Hub work?
Elizabeth: The Cabot Food Hub (CFH) will provide a website where our Producer Partners will list the products they have for sale each week and CFH Members can then purchase the products they are interested in online. The Cabot Food Hub then combines a Member’s orders from multiple producers into one convenient pick-up on Saturday
mornings in town. Producer Partners can choose each week what they’d like to list for sale based on whatever they have available. The flexibility of the online “cart” system allows farmers to pick/prepare only products which have already been sold online. Producer Partners will find the ease of distribution and payments takes less time and effort than preparing for a farmers market stand.
How can farms and food producers sign up?
Elizabeth: We will have a website available soon where food producers and customers can sign up. In the meantime, please email me at Elizabeth@CabotVermont.org so I can add you to our mailing list for updates and future communication about the Cabot Food Hub!
Where do you see this project going in the future?
Elizabeth: This year will be a pilot program of the Cabot Food Hub, running July 1 through early October. After we’ve ironed out the wrinkles and polished it a bit, we hope to bring it back in the summer of 2022, better targeting our
CFH Members’ needs and utilizing our Producer Partner’s products. We want the Cabot Food Hub to become a way to connect with neighbors by sharing what they make, supporting those who make it, and sustaining Cabot’s local economy!
* The Greater Cabot Working Lands Network (GCWLN) and CCA Economic Development Workgroup* are programs
of the Cabot Community Association. The GCWLN educates residents on working lands issues and promotes
strategies to strengthen a sustainable, working landscape in Cabot. The Economic Development Workgroup initiates efforts to build a strong and resilient economy in Cabot. To find out more about these groups or volunteer, please email Lori@CabotVermont.org.