November 13, 2024
What keeps us up at night when it comes to food, farming, and climate?
What brings us hope?
What can we do together that we cannot do alone?
These are a few of the big questions we explored as NOFA-VT members came together for a member meeting at Bristol's Minifactory on the evening of November 12th. This gathering brought together farmers, food producers, gardeners, homesteaders, food system advocates, educators, and eaters who believe that a better food and farming system is possible. It was a welcome opportunity to connect more deeply with one another, tending to the fabric of our relationships, and recognizing the power of our collective energy to build a bridge to the thriving future we envision for Vermont.
NOFA-VT's Executive Director, Grace Oedel, opened the meeting by leading us in song, invoking a long-standing tradition first instilled by Enid Wonacott, who served as NOFA-VT’s Executive Director for 31 years, until 2018. Next came the unveiling of NOFA-VT's strategic plan with an invitation for members to inform the course of the work ahead. We also enjoyed the opportunity to invite members to attend an upcoming Community Action Workshop to lend their voices to an emerging grassroots campaign aimed at introducing legislation to create a climate impact recovery fund for farms.
We then shifted our collective focus to a robust discussion of the food, farming, and climate issues that keep us up at night. Through generative small group conversations, we identified common themes that members feel passionate about addressing, including challenges associated with food security, farm viability, land access, farm succession planning, and the need to build greater resilience to the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
In our group explorations of hope and collective action, we identified bright spots in existing programming like Crop Cash and Farm Share, which effectively address vital connections between food security, farm viability, and climate resilience, and encouraged members to support our upcoming efforts to secure durable state funding to sustain these valued programs. Some members expressed gratitude for the support systems that exist for new and emerging farmers. Others expressed hope fueled by emerging models of land tenure that offer creative alternatives to sole proprietorship, while yet others shared that they find hope in the climate solutions offered by agroforestry models that incorporate perennial agriculture, holistic grazing, and silvopasture.
Ultimately, the NOFA-VT member meeting left us feeling galvanized and buoyed by the opportunities ahead of us. We recognize the imperative of linking arms and engaging in this work together as a diverse community with shared values around food, farming, and climate resilience. We’re grateful for this opportunity to come together joyfully to build connections, share ideas, and reinforce a strong sense of collective purpose. There is incredible energy for gathering in person and working together toward a vision of a more resilient, equitable food system, and we look forward to finding more ways to engage with our membership in this way!
Onward, together!
