On April 16th, join NOFA-VT members and farmers as part of a coordinated regional “Farmer Day of Action” event. Farming associations in our region are taking action to highlight the impact of the federal administration’s policies on farmers and farmworkers. We are centering farmers' experiences and standing in solidarity with farmworkers and federal workers (USDA staff, researchers, and more) whose livelihoods and contributions to agriculture are also threatened.
The 16th falls during the federal Congressional recess when our representatives will be home: it’s a time to speak out for the future we want and stand together.
When: Wednesday, April 16th at 5:30pm
Where: Outside the USDA offices at 68 Catamount Park in Middlebury
What: A farmer-led action, calling for the reinstatement of critical programs, an honoring of contracts, and investment in our rural, ecologically sustainable food system!
Packing List:
- Your longest spoon! (read more below for context)
- Food for sharing (only if it’s easy)
- Signs, suggested slogans:
- Cut hay, not USDA!
- Tariffs are not good for VT producers!
- Farmworkers are essential!
- Farmers feed us all!
- We will keep each other fed!
- May all be fed!
- Canada and VT are not enemies!
We’ll also be bringing nourishment and joy to the action with soup, songs, and long spoons (read more below for context). Please RSVP so we can share more details with you as we get closer to the event!
Recent federal funding turmoil is hurting small and organic farmers—and all of us who rely on them—through program and staff cuts from slashing school meals budgets to eliminating investments in climate-smart farming practices. Further, spiking tariffs and inhumane immigration crackdowns are harming our rural economy and making us all less safe. These policies all are creating uncertainty, stress, and precarious conditions for farm(worker)s and our broader community members alike.
These cuts and policies, if left unchecked, will favor the further exploitation of our natural resources and agricultural workforce, and ultimately risk consolidating control of the food system to mega-corporations and billionaire land-grabbers.
But! NOFA-VT’s farmers and members know that this future is not inevitable and that we are the ones who must insist on a different path. We hold a collective vision: a future where Vermont is home to thriving farms and agriculturally-rooted communities that support the long-term wellbeing of the earth and all its people.
We see a future in which all are fed and the land is healed; in which small farmers can finally make a decent living for a fair day’s work; in which all people who grow our food, from farmworkers to farm owners, are valued and supported. This is the future we must continue to nourish and fight for. Join us to help send a message that we must get back on the path to the future we long for. We will keep each other fed!
At a recent member meeting, a member brought up the parable of the long-handled spoons, a folktale that illustrates our values: no matter the conditions, we can keep each other safe and fed. We’re building on this image and metaphor! We now have a giant spoon that we'll bring, and we ask you to all bring the biggest, longest spoon you own for a photo that we’ll use with the message, “may all be fed!”
We’ll supply soup and bread, and we welcome potluck add-ons if you want to bring extra food to share. We invite you to bring musical instruments if you have music to share, as well.
The path forward towards a thriving future is delicious, and we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. This event will give us a chance to hear directly from farmers and farmworkers about the impacts they’re experiencing and to share our clear demands for policies that will support those who feed us.
