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State Works To Provide
There’s a huge potential market for Vermont food-growers and processors nestled right within state government. Think of the thousands of hungry students at UVM and the Vermont State Colleges. Think of the hundreds of inmates of Vermont’s penal system and at the Vermont state hospital and Vermont Veterans Home; they all get hungry, too. Think of the cafeterias at the legislature and other state offices. Tapping that potential market was the business of an all-day meeting at Vermont Technical College Monday. Kicked off by Gov. Jim Douglas and Agriculture Secretary Roger Albee, it was Vermont’s first statewide meeting of state government agencies and related organizations that might be interested in doing more to promote fresh Vermont food. The meeting was the outgrowth of 2007 legislation called "The Viability of Vermont Agriculture" bill. It directed the Department of Agriculture and Markets to review state purchasing practices to see whether Vermont producers could get a bigger share of their business. How much money could be at stake? "The potential market is BIG, especially in the university and state colleges" responded Helen Labun Jordan, who is coordinating the Agriculture Department’s response to the new law. "We are charged to look at the ways that state government and institutions directly support the agricultural economy, and how we can build new markets for local growers. "If we can buy just 1% local, it would have a tremendous impact," she said. Some institutions have much more ambitious aims. Middlebury College, Jordan said, is trying to buy 35% locally. Jordan was in charge of Monday’s meeting, during which the 50 or more attendees sat down to a luncheon of Vermont foods after hearing the governor. They heard an inspirational keynote speech by Diane Imrie about the innovations put in place and planned by Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. Then they broke into focus groups to get down to brass tacks. The largest contingent represented was from the Corrections Department, Jordan said. The colleges, as expected showed a lot of enthusiasm. "This is very exciting. It’s something that’s happening nationally," she noted. One consensus that developed Monday, Jordan said, was that a first step should be a communications system, so that state purchasers know which farmers and which distributors are available to them—and the farmers will know which products are needed. If people understand each other’s needs, more opportunities will be discovered. As an example, she cited an apple orchardist who was happy just to sell apples—until he discovered a market at UVM for pre-sliced apples, prepared for cooking, and for applesauce. That’s good additional, value-added business for one agriculturalist, she pointed out. She—and the Vermont legislature—hope that it’s a model that can make a difference to farmers across the state. |
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