Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 7:04 PM

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Courtesy the Abbey Group

Dairy products in a Farmers to Families Food Box sourced by the Abbey Group

The Abbey Group, a family-owned food service management company based in Enosburg Falls, has failed to land a contract for the latest round of the USDA Farmers to Families food boxes in Vermont.

It had previously earned two USDA contracts worth $13.9 million to distribute boxes of staple foods to Vermonters experiencing food insecurity due to the pandemic.

Instead, the main Vermont contract was awarded to Boston-based Costa Fruit & Produce, confirmed Vermont Foodbank CEO John Sayles.

Tags: pandemic , food insecurity , Vermont Foodbank , Farmers to Families , Abbey Group , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Barry on Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 4:19 PM

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Jordan Barry ©️ Seven Days

COVID-19 guidelines posted at the entrance to the first summer Burlington Farmers Market on June 6, 2020

The Burlington Farmers Market, whose summer schedule runs through Saturday, October 17, is planning for a “very different winter season” in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, market director Mieko Ozeki told Seven Days.

Given the market’s scale and the risk associated with large indoor gatherings, “An indoor market doesn’t make sense for us this year,” she said.

Tags: Burlington Farmers Market , winter farmers market , COVID-19 , Mieko Ozeki , BFM Direct , BBz Delivery Collective , Intervale Food Hub , Kingdom Direct , Burlington , Web Only , Image

Posted By Sally Pollak on Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 12:18 PM

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Sally Pollak ©️ Seven Days

Shelburne Farms lasagna with salad

It’s about two miles from the visitor center at Shelburne Farms to the inn and gardens on Lake Champlain — maybe two and a half miles, depending on the path you take and where you turn around.

But who’s marking the distance when a walk across the farm — past grazing Brown Swiss cows and the milking barn — is a double win:  a stroll at one of the most beautiful places in Vermont and a shopping trip rolled into one.

Yes, a shopping trip. You can take a walk at Shelburne Farms while a staffer at the visitor center packs your online food order for curbside pickup. If you’re an impulsive type, you can phone in your order on arrival at the parking lot, go for a walk and come back to get your food.

The farm’s seven-acre market garden produces organic vegetables that during normal summers are prepared and plated for diners at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. The inn, along with all farm buildings, is closed for the season due to the  COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer, produce and herbs are available for purchase outside the farm store: Swiss chard, beets, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, mint, thyme, cabbage, carrots, onions, leeks, lettuce, beans and more. The store also sells prepared foods from the inn’s kitchen.

We were super psyched to discover that the restaurant kitchen that typically turns out expensive dinners for in-house diners is offering excellent meals at very reasonable prices.

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Sally Pollak ©️ Seven Days

Shelburne Farms lasagna with salad

Our favorite is the beef lasagna, rich and classic made with beef raised on the farm, tomatoes, cheese and Bechamel sauce. A $12 lasagna feeds two. (I spend more money on ingredients when I make my own lasagna, though it fills a big pan.) Shelburne Farms also makes vegetarian lasagna for $11. Both come frozen and need to  be defrosted and warmed in the oven. We eat ours with salad and bread; dinner is both a treat and a bargain.

We’ve also had the macaroni and cheese ($8), and have heard good things about the squash blossom fettuccine ($5).

These days, when the garden harvest is bountiful and beautiful, it’s easy to look past the prepared meals.  But a late afternoon walk turns into a one-night vacation when it ends with dinner-in-a-bag.

Tags: Shelburne Farms , lasagna , Chittenden County , COVID-19 , locavore , organic vegetables , market garden , walks , Web Only , Image

Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 11:34 AM

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Courtesy of Dennis Curran

Tonewood Maple founder Dori Ross

With the recent extension of the border closing between the U.S. and Canada until August 21, entrepreneur Dori Ross has decided to put her Vermont-based specialty maple products company up for sale.

Ross founded Tonewood Maple in the Mad River Valley in 2012 during the 25 years the Canadian native lived in the U.S. In 2017, Ross, her husband and their three children decided to move from Vermont back to Canada.

Tags: Tonewood Maple , maple , sugaring , U.S.-Canadian border , COVID-19 , border closure , Web Only , Image

Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 2:43 PM

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Courtesy Abbey Group

Vermont dairy in the Farmers to Families food boxes

The USDA has awarded contract extensions to two Vermont-based organizations distributing Farmers to Families food boxes to those in need due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the additional $8.5 million awarded, the Abbey Group, a family-owned food service management company based in Enosburg Falls, received just over $8 million. The balance went to Willing Hands Enterprises, a Norwich-based nonprofit that serves the Upper Valley. This brings total program contract value to Vermont organizations to almost $14 million.

Tags: coronavirus , food insecurity , Farmers to Families , Abbey Group , Vermont Foodbank , Thomas Dairy , Web Only , Image

Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Sun, May 24, 2020 at 4:38 PM

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Courtesy of Diane St. Clair

Animal Farm butter from Orwell

On May 21, the New York Times published an article by restaurant critic Tejal Rao headlined, "As the Restaurant Industry Struggles, the President Talks About Butter."

The butter in question captured President Trump's fancy during a May 18 meeting with restaurant executives to discuss potential federal support during the pandemic. Diane St. Clair makes it at Animal Farm in Orwell from the milk of her tiny herd of grass-fed Jersey cows.

Tags: President Donald Trump , restaurants , coronavirus , Animal Farm , butter , grass-fed cows , Web Only , Image

Posted By Jordan Barry on Fri, May 22, 2020 at 8:37 PM

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Jordan Barry

From left: Livy Bulger, Nick Kierstead and Tucker Levy prepping pizzas at Red Wagon Plants

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont's pizza oven has been a reliable sign of summer since 2006. Established by the late Enid Wonnacott, who led NOFA-VT for more than 30 years, the mobile oven could be found on farms throughout the state, bringing people together around pies topped with local, farm-fresh ingredients.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pizza oven is still a beacon of commensality, though the mission has a different focus this year.

The nonprofit has launched a new project called "Feeding Those Who Feed Us," which brings the mobile oven to certified organic farms around the state to cook for hardworking farm crews.

Tags: NOFA-VT , organic farming , pizza , farmers , agriculture , Red Wagon Plants , Web Only , Image

Posted By Sally Pollak on Thu, May 21, 2020 at 7:15 AM

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Sally Pollak

Tommy Thompson Community Garden in Burlington

ShiftMeals, the hunger-relief  initiative started by Skinny Pancake restaurants to provide free meals to unemployed restaurant workers, musicians, gig workers and others, is establishing an agricultural component, the organization announced this week. The endeavor,  ShiftMeals GrowTeam, is part of the group’s effort to address the rise in food insecurity from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

ShiftMeals GrowTeam will provide laid-off cooks, servers and other hospitality workers access to farms and the means to grow their own food and learn about agriculture.  Through partnerships with gardens and farms in Burlington, Richmond and Marshfield, ShiftMeals GrowTeam will build so-called Victory Farms at which people can cultivate their own food.

Tags: Skinny Pancake , ShiftMeals GrowTeam , Vermont Foodbank , Vermont Youth Conservation Corps , Intervale Center , grow your own , agriculture , Web Only , Image

Posted By Melissa Pasanen on Wed, May 13, 2020 at 1:34 PM

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Sally Pollak

Vermont National Guard members and MREs on May 1 in South Hero

After landing a $5.4 million U.S. Department of Agriculture contract for the new Farmers to Families Food Box Program, the Abbey Group — a family-owned food service management company in Enosburg Falls — had just one week to pull together the first 1,000 food boxes.

The initial batch of boxes, filled with regional dairy,  precooked chicken and fresh produce, will be distributed in Barre on May 15 by the Vermont National Guard along with MREs (meals, ready to eat), a separate federal program. From then through at least June 30, boxes will be distributed weekdays in different locations around the state.

Tags: food insecurity , COVID-19 , USDA , the Abbey Group , Farmers to Families , dairy farmers , Web Only , Image

Posted By Sally Pollak on Fri, May 8, 2020 at 6:13 PM

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Sally Pollak

Elle Purrier handing over a gallon of milk Friday in St. Albans

Two problems in Vermont — food insecurity and dairy surplus — converged Friday afternoon in a St. Albans parking lot, where Franklin County farmers gave away 2,500 gallons of milk to a steady stream of Vermonters.

“We come from a lot of generations of dairy farmers up here in Franklin County, and we love our community so much,” said Meghan St. Pierre, 26, of  Pleasant Valley Farms. “A lot of folks are struggling right now.”

Tags: Vermont dairy farms , COVID-19 , St. Albans Cooperative Creamery , food insecurity , food giveaway , agriculture , community , Pleasant Valley Farms , Dairy Farmers of America , Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance , Web Only , Image