Thursday, April 23, 2020
The Vermont National Guard on Wednesday, April 22, distributed 42,240 MREs — or Meals, Ready to Eat — to Vermonters at a distribution site in Swanton, according to the Vermont Foodbank.
The demand for food was so great that the 15 or so Guard members handing out packaged meals ran out of the initial inventory of 24,000 MREs in three hours. The site was shut down for most of the day until reinforcements arrived, according to the Foodbank, which is working with the Guard to distribute the food.
Organizers “scrambled to get more” MREs, said Nicole Whalen, the Foodbank’s director of communications and public affairs. A supplemental shipment arrived at 5 p.m. By the end of the day, the Guard had distributed 42,240 MREs, according to Whalen. “This is crisis mode, 100 percent,” she said.
Tags: Vermont Foodbank , Vermont National Guard , food insecurity , food assistance , Vermont , COVID-19 , pandemic , Swanton , Rutland , FEMA , Web Only , Image
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Vermont's cheese industry — valued at $650 million, according to the council — is experiencing significant impacts from the COVID-19 crisis. One of the largest sales channels for the state's cheese serves restaurants and institutions, both within Vermont and in urban markets throughout the Northeast.
"Restaurant closures in the New York City area resulted in a simultaneous 50 percent drop in sales for Vermont's artisan cheesemakers," Marty Mundy, executive director of the Vermont Cheese Council, told Seven Days. Mundy added that the drop in sales has since "grown to be over 50 percent for a lot of cheesemakers."
Tags: Cheese , Vermont Cheese Council , COVID-19 , online shopping , dairy , agriculture , Web Only , Image
Friday, April 10, 2020
In a call with farmers market managers Friday morning, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets communicated that farmers markets — which are not deemed essential under Gov. Phil Scott's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" executive order — cannot operate.
As the winter market season wraps up, market managers and their advisory boards have anxiously awaited guidelines from the state for how they can adapt their operations for the summer season. While the state has closed farmers markets for now, it is expected to allow them to operate in a modified fashion at some point soon, according to a VAAFM document released Friday evening.
Tags: farmers market , COVID-19 , NOFA-VT , Burlington Farmers Market , Capital City Farmers Market , agriculture , Web Only , Image
Early April is prime time for starting gardens, and with a directive to stay home, planting vegetables is both a means of exercise and a way to ensure a steady supply of fresh produce this summer (if all goes well). Delays in shipments and new systems at local garden centers, as well as low or nonexistent stock online, has gardeners planting seeds of doubt.
Gardeners looking to stay at home and purchase seeds online are faced with limited selection. Vermont's own High Mowing Organic Seeds is navigating "unprecedented challenges" and "significant increases in orders and web activity," according to a note posted on the company's blog. They still have seeds for sale, but many varieties are out of stock, and the shipping turnaround time was extended to 20 days as of March 30.
Nurseries and locally owned garden centers around the state are adapting to pre-ordering and curbside service; many have seeds for sale, but they're learning how to communicate new ordering and pickup systems to their customers. Online order forms, lines to pick up bulk soil, virtual nursery tours and plant delivery are all part of the new normal.
Tags: COVID-19 , seeds , garden , agriculture , Vermont Senate , Vermont Agency of Agriculture , Food and Markets , Web Only , Image
Thursday, April 9, 2020
A few weeks ago, Jim Logan was working as a chef-instructor at the Community Kitchen Academy, a culinary jobs program based at Feeding Chittenden in Burlington’s Old North End. He taught aspiring cooks and, with his students, made meals for people who get food at the nonprofit on North Winooski Avenue.
That building is now closed to the public. Food-shelf clients — and it’s a growing population — not long ago selected their own groceries. Now they receive a pre-packed box of food. The breakfast program, formerly sit-down, is takeout.
Tags: Feeding Chittenden , Covid-19 , Burlington , emergency housing , shelter in place , Community Kitchen Academy , Vermont Foodbank , Web Only , Image
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Researchers at the University of Vermont, working with colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, have developed and distributed a survey to learn how the coronavirus might impact food insecurity.
Meredith Niles, lead investigator and assistant professor in UVM’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, said in a press release that the pandemic has “highlighted a number of instabilities in the food system.”
Tags: University of Vermont , COVID-19 , food access , survey , food insecurity , coronavirus , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
His organization witnessed a similar phenomenon in St. Johnsbury, where the number of families seeking food at the local VeggieVanGo doubled from 200 families to 400, Sayles said.
With portions of the local economy shutting down due to the spread of the coronavirus, the need for food is on the rise in Vermont, he said.
Tags: Vermont Foodbank , covid-19 , hunger relief , donations , Trent's Bread , Skinny Pancake , Little Morocco , Web Only , Image
Thursday, March 12, 2020
The new ownership group, called the Riot Squad, is made up of current Vermont bar, restaurant and food business owners. It consists of equal partners Jacob Shane, owner of Deli 126; Sam Tolstoi and Matt Small, co-owners of Manhattan Pizza & Pub; and Christie and Matt Farkas, owners of Christie's Gone Bananas.
Tags: ArtsRiot , restaurant news , entertainment news , the Riot Squad , Sam Tolstoi , Matt Small , Jacob Shane , Matt Farkas , Christie Farkas , South End , Burlington , Web Only , Image
Monday, February 17, 2020
On Saturday, February 15, the City of Burlington issued a precautionary boil-water advisory due to a water main break. Starting in the South End and eventually including most of Burlington and a small part of South Burlington, the advisory disrupted one of the busiest weekends of the winter for the city’s restaurants, with Valentine’s Day coinciding with the President’s Day long weekend.
Residents were advised to boil water for one minute before using it for drinking, cooking or washing dishes. Food establishments had to make the tough decision whether to close and lose business or to navigate the challenges of safely feeding a packed house without their usual water supply.
At the Great Northern on Pine Street, the first sign of trouble came at the end of Saturday brunch. “The pressure got funky around 3 o’clock,” chef and co-owner Frank Pace said. Thirty minutes later, Pace received the alert from the city’s emergency system. The restaurant’s next door partner, Zero Gravity Craft Brewery, closed right away. Pace and his wife and co-owner, Marnie Long, went fact finding with the brewery’s general manager, Margaret Leddy.
Tags: water , Burlington , Department of Public Works , restaurant , the Great Northern , Honey Road , Nunyuns Bakery & Café , infrastructure , boil water advisory , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
“We are so grateful for the strong support that our community has shown us since we opened our doors in 2015," the company’s president and cofounder Sas Stewart said in a press release. "We’re proud to be a part of the Vermont ecosystem, and are excited to host fundraisers, collaborations and holiday parties to close out this year. While we’re sad to end this chapter, it’s only fitting to spend this time celebrating the people and products that make Vermont outstanding."
Tags: Stonecutter Spirits , Highball Social , distillery , spirits , gin , whiskey , Sas Stewart , Sivan Cotel , Web Only , Image