On November 10, 2021, the Rural Vermont community convened (virtually) for its Annual Meeting. We so enjoyed seeing so many new and familiar faces, and look forward to when we can be together again in person.

It was a busy meeting! Here are some highlights:

• Elected new and returning Board members! Meet our current Board Members here.

• Amended our By-Laws, including the insertion of our NEW mission and vision statements.

• Shared our new Strategic Plan and Anti-Racism Policy.

• Celebrated the life of Dexter Randall, Rural Vermont Board Member Emeritus. You can learn more about Dexter’s history with RV at the bottom of the Board webpage.

Rural VT and its allies in the VT Cannabis Equity Coalition have submitted our public comments to the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) for its rulemaking process, and in support of a cannabis economy in Vermont which is racially just, economically equitable, agriculturally accessible, and environmentally sound. Please let the CCB know that you support our recommendations, and provide them with your feedback and personal concerns, ideas, and experiences through the public comment portal.

“Rural Vermont stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemns the Israeli State’s systemic human rights violations, discrimination, and the illegal occupation and blockade of Palestine which has now affected generations of Palestinians and the lands of Palestine…We stand in struggle and solidarity to exert peasant rights and the rights of landless peoples to pursue food sovereignty as part of our liberation.”

Read our full Statement of Solidarity with Palestine & Support for Actions by Ben & Jerry’s Inc..

Fundamental changes are needed to ensure that healthcare financing and delivery systems serve the people of Vermont, realize their right to health, and advance equity. We join the call in asking the legislature to fulfill its obligations under Act 48 to finance universal, publicly financed health care, review the state audit of the current All-Payer model that is currently driving up healthcare costs for Vermont residents, and hold public hearings to enable the public to speak directly to the Task Force. Read the full letter, including background and more details on our requests.

Join us in this year's on-farm slaughter workshop series, which this year includes a poultry offering as well!

Livestock Slaughter and Processing Workshops with Mary Lake - Learn more and register!
Strafford Village Farm in Strafford 10/17/21
AJ’s Happy Chick Farm in Albany 12/05/21

Poultry Slaughter and Processing Workshop with Elizabeth Roma - Learn more and register!
Putting Down Roots Farm in South Royalton 11/6/21

Click here to check out our recent work, including some good news and significant gains! Together we are cultivating more autonomy over our food and lands, while serving our communities and each other.

We did it! On May 12, 2021 Governor Scott signed H.218 into law. The new law, Act 22, expands raw milk sales for tier two producers to other farms’ farmstands and CSAs in Vermont, and will go into effect on July 1st, 2021.

Learn more HERE!

Good news regarding Close-the-Nutrient-Loop!

On-farm composting of food residuals will now be recognized as a farming practice with the passage of S.102 into law today! The Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets will issue a rule making process for the practice and has now the authority to regulate soil amendments, plant amendments and plant biostimulants aside from fertilizers that are already under their purview. This will allow farmers to Close-The-Nutrient-Loop by creating valuable composts for soil enhancement while also providing AAFM with the oversight to keep plastics out of Vermont soils.

Learn more here!

2020 was a heck of a year, but we have a lot to be proud of. Check out our 2020 Impact Report to learn more about Rural Vermont and the highlights of our year. We look forward to continuing this work with our wonderful community of members and supporters - we couldn’t do it without you!

USDA has reopened sign-up for CFAP 2 for at least 60 days beginning on April 5, 2021.

Learn more HERE!

Rural Vermont is part of a coalition supporting H.430, the Doctor Dinosaur Expansion bill, which would expand coverage to income-eligible children and pregnant people regardless of immigration status. The bill recently passed the House and Senate and is now its way to the Governor to be signed into law! Read more about the bill and the coalition that supports it in this overview from Vermont Legal Aid.

Throughout the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a crushing bottleneck in VT slaughterhouses as more and more people have begun to seek out and produce local meat. With many slaughterhouses fully booked for at least the next year, Rural Vermont is seeking out strategies to alleviate pressure on meat processors and to allow farmers to continue providing fresh, local meat to their communities. In Rural Vermont’s recent on-farm slaughter survey, participants were asked what they thought the best strategies were to achieve this goal.

Read the results HERE!

In collaboration with the VT Releaf Collective, NOFA-VT, and the VT Healthy Soil Coalition, we’re working to amplify farmer and BIPOC voices by offering stipends to BIPOC engaged in soil health policy.

Learn more HERE.

Join Rural Vermont, NOFA-VT and Action Circles between February and April for our Small Farm Action Day event series of two subsequent events per month. (NOTE: events are organized as a monthly “set” of one virtual advocacy training event and one meet and greet with legislators. Attendees are strongly encouraged to come to both events within the same month, but it’s not required.) A limited number of farmer stipends are available.

1. A “Virtual Advocacy Training 4 Farmers” where farmers, farm workers, foodies and activists learn about virtual advocacy, RV and NOFA-VT issues and get to prepare a presentation of their own issues to legislators.

   Dates: Thursday 4/8, 11.30am - 1.30pm

2. A subsequent “Farmer Meet and Greet with Legislators”  - a lunchtime zoom meeting where participants of the advocacy training get to present their issue to legislators followed by questions, brief discussions and most importantly the ability to advance a cause through relationship building. Anyone is welcome to RSVP for this event to listen in, regardless of a participation at the advocacy training - legislators are highly encouraged to do so!
   Dates: Wednesday 4/14, 10.30am - noon

Learn more and register here!

USDA will provide additional assistance through CFAP, expanding eligibility and updating payments. Producers currently eligible and those needing to modify applications may contact USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) Jan. 19 - Feb. 26. Changes were made to align with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and in response to ongoing evaluations of CFAP. Read more here.

Are you a raw milk producer? We want to hear from you! Join us for a virtual meeting of raw milk producers to discuss what areas of the current law are priorities for improvement, either through grassroots organizing or potential legislative changes. Your input is needed. Please RSVP here.

**Please note this meeting is only open to raw milk producers and those intending to produce raw milk in the near future.**

Click here to view our 2020 Snapshot…and here to view our 2021 Course of Action!

Rural Vermont is launching its year-end appeal! As we close in on the end of 2020, we want to share with you some bright spots from our corner of the world. You can read our 2020 Snapshot here. We also invite you to read our appeal for your support here and make your year-end gift here. Thank you!

Thank you to the supporters of our Coalition and an equitable and just cannabis marketplace for standing by us in our advocacy! Though we were not successful in stopping S.54, our concerns have been acknowledged by many policymakers, as well as the Governor in his signing statement. We are ready to continue organizing and advocating over the coming months to achieve greater equity and justice in the tax and regulate structure and process being implemented in VT. We know we have your support, and hope that the support promised by our State leaders and policymakers for our concerns and proposals greet us at the Statehouse come January.

Learn more about Act 164, next steps and updates from the coalition, and ways to get involved in shaping the future of VT’s tax and regulate system HERE.

If we are to achieve justice, equity, healing, and transformation our mandate is to prioritize the needs of, and direct agency to, those most marginalized and disproportionately discriminated against as we collectively dismantle white supremacy and pursue equity for all.  It is also to recognize that the struggle for black lives is a struggle of mutual liberation - that we are all bound by these systems of oppression. 

Read Rural Vermont’s Affirmation of Solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives HERE.