BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jeannie Bartlett, Montpelier

Christine Bourque
Blue Heron Farm, Grand Isle

Sue Buckholz, W. Hartford

Cat Buxton, Sharon

John Cleary
Cleary Family Farm, Plainfield

Silene DeCiuces, Elmore

Noah El-Naboulsi
People’s Farmstand, Burlington

Marya Merriam
Wood Frog Flowers, Strafford

Corie Pierce
Bread & Butter Farm, Shelburne

Jon Turner
Wild Roots Farm, Bristol

Julie Wolcott
Green Wind Farm, Fairfield

Chris Wood, Tunbridge

Rachel & Ryan Yoder
Yoder Farm, Danby      

 Dear friends,

Thank you for your interest in Rural Vermont and our collective work to build healthy, resilient, and equitable food systems. Please consider becoming a member or making a special gift to support this work now and into the future.

As part of Rural Vermont’s community, you already know that this organization’s 35+ year history has centered around exposing injustices within the agricultural sector and amplifying the voices and needs of those most impacted. Grassroots leadership, meaningful allies, and generous community support have led to significant progress over the decades (see the latest in our year-end Policy update here). We celebrate these gains today, while recognizing there is still so much work to be done in the months and years ahead.

Every day we see more evidence of a rapidly and destructively changing climate, corporate consolidation across every facet of our food system, and the glaring gaps in our social safety nets that routinely fail the most vulnerable amongst us. There has never been a more apt time to be bold and brave and loud about the broad-based systemic changes we need, and to be part of the greater movement that is building the world we need; where everyone’s basic needs are met with dignity and we tend to each other and the earth with reciprocity that nourishes generations to come.

Rural Vermont approaches this work by focusing on the health of our agrarian communities and the ecosystems that support us all. To this end, we are very excited to share with you Rural Vermont’s new five-year Strategic Plan and our refreshed Vision and Mission that lay the foundation and focus for this Plan and the work ahead. (See our Strategic Plan here.)

Please help us launch Rural Vermont’s Strategic Plan, and support our advocacy for just and equitable policies and systems driven by, and designed for, the people.

Rural Vermont is uniquely qualified to do this work because we have a long history of building trust, credibility, and power among the agricultural community. Our leadership team includes staff, Board, and activists who, through their farming experience, have directly felt the impacts of unfair and uninformed agricultural policies. We have witnessed and reacted to decades of these policies, shaped by corporate interests, causing great harm to our ecosystems and farmers here and abroad. We recognize that systemic racism plagues our nation and creates disparate outcomes for BIPOC, and we’ve institutionalized our commitment to anti-racism and being in solidarity with BIPOC allies in pursuit of our collective liberation. We view our work through a lens of equity and justice, and prioritize solidarity efforts within and across geographic boundaries and sectors. And lastly, we have a long-standing reputation for making a disproportionately large contribution to building a better food system, despite our relatively small budget and staff.

Our work is guided, fueled, and funded by our community. Please make your donation today and join us in advancing our shared vision of a just and equitable world rooted in reverence for the earth and dignity for all. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Caroline Gordon, Legislative Director
Shelby Girard, Development Director
Emma Paradis, Operations Director
Graham Unangst-Rufenacht, Policy Director
Mollie Wills, Grassroots Organizing Director

P.S. Will you consider a recurring gift to Rural Vermont? Our Sustaining Members enjoy uninterrupted membership status and the satisfaction of knowing that their reliable support keeps our administrative costs low so we can invest more in the work that is important to them. Learn more and sign up here.