Several Upper Valley restaurants and retailers will offer a portion of their sales on Thursday to a farm share program that helps low-income Vermonters obtain farm-fresh fruits and vegetables.
Colatina Exit in Bradford, Vt. has participated in Share the Harvest, as the annual fundraising event is known, for well over a decade. It demonstrates the restaurant’s commitment to local farms and people, said Logan Roystan, Colatina Exit’s dining manager.
“Each summer (we’re) buying more and more from local farms,” he said, in a phone interview on Monday. “We want to give back.”
This year, NOFA Vermont’s farm share program is helping 200 low-income families, including 700 individuals, to pay for CSA shares, according to the organization’s website. The program has gradually grown from serving a dozen families and three farms in 1995, according to NOFA’s website.
Program participants pay half the cost of a CSA share, while the farm and NOFA each pay a quarter of the cost, said Mike Good, NOFA’s community food access programs coordinator.
“There’s always more applicants than we can fund,” said Good.
Upper Valley farms that have participated in the farm share program in the past two years include: Deep Meadow Farm in Ascutney, Heartwood Fable Farm Collective in Barnard, Killdeer Farm in Norwich, Luna Bleu Farm in South Royalton, Root 5 Farm in Fairlee, Sunrise Farm in White River Junction and Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford.
With the Share the Harvest fundraiser, the organization aims to raise $18,000 to support subsidized CSA shares in the future.
Colatina will donate 15 percent of its sales on Thursday to the farm share program, Roystan said.
“It should be a pretty big night,” he said.
Depending on how brisk business is, Roystan said the night could yield nearly $1,000 for NOFA.
By promoting the participating businesses, the hope is that both the businesses and the farm share program will do well, said NOFA’s Share the Harvest Coordinator Becca Weiss.
“The more income they make, the higher the donation will be to NOFA,” Weiss said.
The Upper Valley Food Cooperative in White River Junction is also participating and plans to donate about a half percent of Thursday’s sales — $50 to $100 — said Chris Jacobson, the co-op’s education and outreach coordinator.
“We want everyone in our community to have access to fresh local food,” Jacobson said. This is especially true during this time of harvest and as the holidays approach, she said.
“There are various ways of approaching the holidays … food is really central,” Jacobson said. Share the Harvest “kind of opens up the season that is gratitude and sharing.”
In addition to Colatina Exit and the Upper Valley Co-op, local Share the Harvest participants include The Local Buzz in Bradford, Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland, Route 4 Country Store, Deli & BBQ in Quechee, South Royalton Market, Cedar Circle Farmstand in East Thetford and Woodstock Farmers’ Market.
A full list and more information is available at nofavt.org/events/share-harvest.
Piecemeal Pies, a cafe and bakery in White River Junction featuring savory vegetarian and meat pies, will be open on Friday for the village’s First Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., according to the restaurant’s website.
Then, beginning next Tuesday the cafe will be open through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Sundays and Mondays.
More information available online at www.piecemealpies.com.
Two Upper Valley farms are participating in the Cabot Creamery Open Farm Sunday this weekend: Richardson Family Farm in Hartland and Sanctuary Dairy in Sunapee.
“It’s an opportunity to give back to the community for their support of buying the cheese that we put our milk into,” said Reid Richardson, co-owner of the family dairy.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, visitors will be invited to “see what a real working farm looks like,” he said.
The farm includes 55 milkers; 110 cattle in total, Richardson said. The family also keeps pigs, chickens and farm dogs, and maintains a sugarbush with 8,500 taps, he said.
Events will include samples, a scavenger hunt and a guided walk, he said.
More information is available at www.cabotcheese.coop/open-farm-sunday.
A community composting forum is scheduled to take place on Oct. 18 at Woodstock Union High School. The 6:30 p.m. discussion, led by compost consultant James McSweeney and moderated by garden writer and speaker Charlie Nardozzi, is geared toward school and community garden leaders. More information is available at vcgn.org/communitycompost or 802-861-4769.
Food writer Michael Pollan will offer the George Link Environmental Awareness Lecture and book signing at the Hanover Inn on Oct. 24. Pollan, who is best known for The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, has written a new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, which offers a history of and enthusiasm for cooking. The free lecture is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in the inn’s Grand Ballroom and will be followed by the book signing.
A farm to school conference is scheduled for Nov. 2-3 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee. Workshop topics include: curriculum design, a field trip to the Gladstone family’s Newmont Farm in Fairlee, child nutrition programs, composting, funding and a local foods dinner featuring a talk by Betti Wiggins, executive director of the Detroit Public Schools Office of School Nutrition. More information available at vermontfarmtoschoolconference.org.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
