Last week, the Agricultural Working Group of the Vermont Conservation Strategy Initiative (VCSI) considered a presentation by Ryan Patch, Agriculture Climate and Land Use Policy Manager at the Agency of Ag, covering land use in agriculture in Vermont from 1840 - 2024. We recommend you view his very informative slideshow here. Since the peak of agriculture in Vermont in 1880, when there were over 35K farms representing 84% of the entire VT landmass, ag production in the state has consolidated into 12% of the total land use today. In a business as usual scenario, makers of Act 250 project that 39% of the current agricultural land will produce less or no food due to being impacted as a “critical resource area,” namely river corridor, wetland, high elevation or as slope or soils with shallow bedrock. American Farmland Trust estimates that Vermont will lose between 41K to 61,800 acres by 2040 to development. The remaining 61% are under high pressure for development. How will the group decide about the question of which farmland should be protected from development for food production in the future? In our last update we shared that New England Feeding New England projects a need for an additional 989,000 acres across the North East U.S. to produce only 30% of food consumed in VT by 2030.
In early December 2023, as part of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC), Mollie Wills of Rural Vermont took part in the 8th International Conference of La Via Campesina (LVC), in Bogota, Colombia, joining 185 member other organizations from 83 countries. La Via Campesina, often referred to as the world’s largest social movement representing over 200 million farmers, peasant, fisherfolk, pastoralists, and other food providers, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022, and continues to be the preeminent political organization for rural communities globally. Mollie joined Jordan Treakle of NFFC and other North American-based delegates from allied organizations Family Farm Defenders, Farmworker Association of Florida, Union Paysanne, and the National Farmers Union of Canada. The key message resonating throughout the conference from the more than 400 delegates affirmed that :
“We, the peasants, rural workers, landless, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, artisanal fisherfolk, forest dwellers, rural women, youth and diversities and other peoples who work in the countryside around the world and united within La Via Campesina, declare that “Faced with global crises, we build food sovereignty to ensure a future for humanity!”
Having a hard time keeping up with the processes of the legislature? Or navigating the legislative website to find hearings of interest? Trouble finding recordings on YouTube? Listen up, Rural Vermont! is a new Rural Vermont webpage that features all 2024 VT legislative hearings (as video recordings) relevant to agriculture. We’re also featuring highlights on social media that relate to our policy priorities and have included audio recordings of our latest legislative updates so that you can listen along during your chores or commute….you can find the 01.26.24 Legislative Update to read or listen HERE….
As communities around the world celebrate the new year and their respective traditions and holidays associated with this time of long nights and short days - in Palestine, the historical home of many of these traditions, nearly 10,000 children and more than 20,000 people have been killed and have not been celebrating with their families and communities. Many still lie buried and broken under the rubble of bombed buildings, schools, hospitals, refugee camps. Christmas was canceled in Bethlehem. Many of our seasonal stories speak of redemption, but we do not live in a comforting story with happy endings - and we see signs of deeper commitment to the killing and destruction and oppression from Israel, the US and the other patrons of the war. As an organization, we affirm our responsibility to speak for peace, and to advocate for an end to the genocide, apartheid, occupation, and dehumanization of the Palestinian people; this time citing the Nyeleni food sovereignty declaration of 2007,
“Food sovereignty is challenged by repression and state terrorism, particularly as conflicts affect communities' control over territories. This limits their access to land, water, food and excludes their participation in decision-making. For peoples living under occupation, self-determination and local autonomy become crucial in order to achieve food sovereignty.”
The second year of the legislative biennium has begun! There are more or less three months to work on legislation per session, so lawmakers hit the ground running. Year two of a biennium means a shorter timeframe to move bills along, but also offers a quicker start with less need for introductions and background.
2024 priorities for organizing, education, advocacy and action are shaped at the intersection of many influences: our relationships with our membership, our Board, our Staff, our allied organizations, coalitions, and allied movements locally and globally. During the legislative session, we actively track legislation throughout the Statehouse and keep our members updated on a diversity of bills and conversations, providing opportunities to engage. This is an overview of some of the many issue areas we work on and support.
Throughout September the Protect Our Soils Coalition is gathering signatures for the Vermonters Endorse the PFAS Relief for Farmers Act. As Vermonters, we know that healthy soil and farms are essential to our communities, economies, and values. Sign-On in support of legislation that will help our farms that have been impacted by industrial pollution; unfortunately - just because we’re not testing for it doesn’t mean it’s not there - so that the list of farmers impacted by PFAS contamination is expected to grow, and the financial and health effects can be devastating.
Please join us in supporting the Support for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act. Together, we can make our voices heard and let policy makers know that we demand expedient and effective action. Each farm is a unique community asset, and no farmer or grower should be left vulnerable due to lack of action and regulation.
After months of promoting our On-Farm Slaughter campaign in D.C. neither the Vermont delegation nor other members of Congress are willing to spearhead the needed clarification in the Federal Meat Inspection Act that on-farm slaughter is legal at the moment. Our coalition recognizes that the issue is new to many, even to those who are invested in advancing meat processing issues. Together we now approach the campaign with what’s a common ground goal of many - to better protect state meat inspection programs from arbitrary USDA actions.
Learn more about the background of this campaign here
Read the new factsheet here
Contact caroline@ruralvermont.org with your questions and comments
We celebrate youth climate activists who succeeded with their claims for a Right to a Healthy Environment last week at a District Court in Montana. The court decided that their rights are impaired by the state government's continuous promotion of fossil fuel industries. The ruling is now more forcefully demanding policy makers action on climate change. At least twenty-two states have some kind of environmental protection clause in their constitution, that’s Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Virginia. It’s shocking that Vermont is not one of them.
Are you interested in increasing your or your community’s sustainability, climate resilience, and food access? Rabbit meat is among the most sustainable proteins you can consume, using far less resources and definitely less work than most other livestock. And, yes, it really does taste like chicken... buttery, lean chicken!
Join Rural Vermont and Giant Journey Farm in Newfane on Saturday, October 28th from 10:00-1:00 to learn about raising and processing the other other white meat! The workshop will be led by farm owners Seren and Rick on their quirky 2 acre regenerative farm where they teach folks about farming while they grow year-round produce, and raise poultry, rabbits, and goats.
In response to the devastating impacts caused by the severe flooding that occurred this week, we aim to provide support to our affected farming and rural communities. We are compiling a comprehensive list of the currently available resources. This list will be regularly updated to include any additional resources that become accessible and known in the coming days. Together, let us help rebuild and restore the affected areas, as we remain committed to supporting our farming and rural communities throughout this challenging period.
Rural Vermont will be at Summervale on Thursday, August 24th! Stop by and say hi!
Summervale is a weekly festival presented by the Intervale Center that celebrates community, local food and live music. This free public event takes place at the Intervale, a unique community resource for agriculture, conservation, and recreation located in Burlington’s Old North End.
This final update (after the one-day veto override session on June 20th of the 2023 legislative session) aims to go beyond status updates on the Governor's vetoes but summarizes key takeaways from all bills passed by the General Assembly that we flag as relevant to agrarian communities. For the first time ever, we are also providing an audio recording of the whole thing so that you can listen in while tending to other stuff on and off the farm as well.
***NEW!!***
Listen while you work!
Find Rural Vermont’s recap summary as an audio recording by clicking on the Read More Here… link below!
Please join us for a two-part educational workshop on the raising, slaughtering, and processing of meat chickens guided by Suzanne Long, Tim Sanford, and Elizabeth Roma. Part I of the workshop will begin in the morning and cover the raising of healthy, pastured birds and slaughter techniques at Luna Bleu Farm. Part II will begin in the afternoon and cover the cutting/processing of meat birds at Roma’s Butchery. This workshop includes two certified organic meat birds raised at Luna Bleu Farm- each participant will use their own birds for the cutting/processing practice in the 2nd half of the workshop.
Sponsored by South Royalton Market and Green Mountain Feeds.
Rural Vermont's Vice Chair Nour El-Naboulsi says, "Rural Vermont remains fearless in the face of injustice" and encourages your support of our dogged efforts to amplify the agrarian community and build an equitable farm and food web.
Donate here, see our Mid-Year Progress Report here, and read Nour's full appeal for your support here!
During this 2-part workshop at Fledgling Farmstead in Tunbridge, participants will learn how to humanely slaughter a lamb in the first half of the workshop and process a lamb in the second half of the workshop. Participants can choose to attend Part 1 or the full day.
This workshop will be guided by Mary Lake. Mary Lake is a professional itinerant slaughterer, butcher and sheep shearer who lives in Tunbridge. Mary learned the craft of slaughter through several years of full-time work with the Royal Butcher in Randolph, which is a USDA inspected slaughter facility. Her expertise and engagement through testimony was essential for the improvements to the On-Farm Slaughter law.
At the slaughter workshop, Caroline Gordon, Rural Vermont’s Legislative Director, will present the updates on on-farm slaughter regulation and give room for questions and discussion throughout the event.
If you are an ally or supporter of On-Farm Slaughter, we need you now!
For a very small amount of your time (3 minutes), this a HUGE opportunity to step up your support for clarifying language to the Federal Meat Inspection Act’s personal-use-exemption to confirm on-farm slaughter is legal! Please help our US legislators understand they should clarify On-Farm Slaughter is legal and make it a priority for the 2023 Farm Bill.
The House Agriculture Committee of the U.S. Congress is where the farm bill starts and they have created a portal for direct stakeholder feedback! You will find the feedback portal by clicking the link below.
There is a strong push from the legislature to end the legislative session this week, and there are a number of bills which we are monitoring, testifying on, submitting language for, and mobilizing around as the session comes to a close. This is a time when your voice can have a potentially significant influence on the outcomes of these bills, and issues such as childcare, funding for agricultural grants and programs in the budget (e.g. Working Lands Enterprise Fund, Land Access and Opportunity Board, Small Farm Diversification and Resilience, etc.), agricultural access and social equity in cannabis, and more. This is also a time when we are assessing the likelihood of vetoes from the Governor’s Office - and in the case of Universal School Meals, which has just passed the House and Senate and is moving to the Governor’s desk, this is a time to contact his office urging him to support this bill. In the Vermont legislature, it remains true that the voices of a relatively small number of constituents reaching out are able to at times make a critical difference.
This year's legislative session is nearing completion with the second week of May marking the current target to adjourn. In this week's update we focus on bills at the intersection to agriculture that we haven’t written about much before, namely the childcare and paid leave bill. We also included a heads up about more new legislation that got some initial attention in preview to the 2024 session. Most importantly there’s a few updates that come with a last minute action alert. Stay tuned for the full end-of-session update with a comprehensive overview coming up soon!
After crossover, the agency of agriculture (VAAFM) makes promising attempts to double budget appropriations of the House to the full $14M as proposed by the Governor. The House Ag committee moved the Right to Repair bill to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development with a chance to still pass this biennium - if not this session. The House also started to discuss new initiatives proposed by members of the ag committee, including H.274 related to ag and nutrition education and H. 368 related to supporting new, veteran and disadvantaged farmers. On the Senate side we’re excited to see potential progress on cannabis related to treating outdoor cultivation in the same manner as agriculture, and integrating Social Equity programs and funding. Read More Here…