Community Food Access
Our Community Food Access Program strives to bridge the gap between healthy, local food and Vermonters. We do this through our Food Access Fund, our Farm-to-Institution Program, events like Pies for People/Soup for Supper and collecting produce at the Hardwick Farmers’ Market.
Food Access Fund
Established in 2008 with an anonymous donation, the Food Access Fund seeks to make a connection between the local food movement in the Hardwick area with the residents who are challenged to feed themselves and their families. The Food Access Fund reimburses the Hardwick Area Food Pantry for local food purchases it makes from area producers as well as provides support for other Community Food Access events in our region. This includes local meat, fresh bread, fruits, vegetables and dairy products – all staples that are challenging to purchase with limited budgets and shelf life.
The Food Access Fund also funds events like Pies for People/Soup for Supper, Local Authors Read, minimal processing of local produce for area food pantries and more.
- Pies for People/Soup for Supper. An event established in 2009, we show that a community can feed its own community through volunteerism, donations of local products and services. From 2009 to 2011, we made and donated over 600 pies and over 100 gallons of soup for less than $500. We have worked with 75 volunteers and produced over 5000 servings of pies and soup and we look forward to moving that product to the Vermont Food Venture Center in November 2012.
- On the first Friday of December, we host our popular event, Harvest of Words -Local Authors Read. Writers (and farmers!) read and showcase their poetry and stories, both new and old. Some are famous and some are not, but all are there to share their love of agriculture, food and community.
If you would like to donate to the Food Access Fund, you can click on the link below.
