As a nonprofit serving Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom region and beyond, Green Mountain Farm-to-School works to strengthen our local food systems and increase equitable access to local foods.
Who We Serve
Farms
We help Vermont farms and food businesses grow by connecting them with local buyers, from schools to co-ops. At the same time, we provide targeted marketing and sales support.
60 farm and food business partners
Schools
We connect students to food through hands-on farm-to-school programs in Northeast Kingdom schools, including cooking, gardening, and farm field trips. We also help schools across Northern and Central Vermont buy more from nearby farms and improve the quality of school meals.
17 school partners for educational programming
75 school partners for local food distribution
Communities
We bring people together around food through hands-on workshops and shared meals across the Northeast Kingdom, building skills, strengthening community, and learning by doing. We also expand access to local food by connecting farms with stores, schools, and community food programs.
11 towns served by community programming
83 towns in our local food distribution network
We have so mush-room in our hearts for Kevin Melman, the super fun-gi behind @funj_shrooming_co 🍄🟫🍄🟫
FUNJ. Shrooming Company is a certified organic operation employing a range of sustainable best practices to grow fresh, delicious mushrooms in Northern Vermont. They even offer dried varieties and grow kits!
You can find FUNJ. products at local farm stands including @wilsonfarmvermont, @joesbrookfarm and @chamberlinsfarm.
Learn more about this awesome new business at: funjshrooming.com
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been celebrating one of our favorite Farm-to-School traditions: All School Planting Days! During these special events, every class takes a turn helping prepare and plant their school garden. With the weather warming and the school year winding down, students were eager to get their hands in the soil and spend time learning outdoors! ☀️🌱
All School Planting Days mark the culmination of a year of Farm-to-School learning. By sowing tiny seeds and seedlings that will grow into mature plants come fall, students experience the journey of growing food, from seed to harvest. 🍅🥔
Interested in helping our school gardens flourish over the summer? We’re looking for volunteers to help water, weed, harvest, and care for gardens while school is out. Link in bio to sign up to volunteer! ✨
Recently, our Farm-to-School team has been busy planting school gardens alongside enthusiastic students in the Northeast Kingdom. 🌱
This work is only possible because of the incredible generosity of our community. A huge thank you to our partners who donated seeds, compost, seedlings, and fruit trees to help school gardens thrive: @hudsonvalleyseedco, @johnnys_seeds, @coastofmaineorganic, @vermontcompost, @berrycreekfarm1992, The Maine Potato Lady, Lake Region High School, Beaver Meadow Greenhouses, and @branchoutburlington - with funding support from People’s Bank.
We’d also love to connect with other businesses and community members interested in supporting this work through in-kind donations. Send us a message to get involved!
The Vermont Harvest of the Month for June is dairy! We’re celebrating by distributing 46 tubs of @kingdomcreameryofvermont ice cream to schools across Vermont. Based in East Hardwick, VT, Kingdom Creamery has been producing the highest quality of milk on their family-run farm for three generations. All Kingdom Creamery products are all-natural, rBST free, and made with no artificial flavors or colors. Their milk, yogurt, ice cream, and frozen yogurt have truly become a Vermont staple, and we are proud to serve Kingdom Creamery products to our customers.
We’re also proud to offer our food hub customers many Vermont dairy offerings, including heavy cream and kefir from @butterworksfarmvt, cheese spread and cream-top milk from @sweetrowenfarmstead, cheese curds and grated cheese from @bridportcreamery, and much more! 🥛🐮🧀🍨🍦
We deeply appreciate the wonderful contributions made this spring that have brought our school gardens to life. A heartfelt thank you to @coastofmaineorganic for their generous donation of two pallets of Castine Blend Organic Raised Bed Mix, helping us nurture growth and inspire future gardeners. Their products can be found locally at the Newport Farm and Garden - Agway and EM Brown & Son in Barton. 🌱
It’s that time of year again! The Lunchbox will be kicking off the summer with a Block Party on Thursday, June 25th from 3-6pm in Newport’s Gardner Park. 🎉
Mark your calendars and join us for free family-friendly activities, a bouncy house, resource tables, and nutritious meals! Kids and teens 18 & under eat for FREE. Adult meals available for $8.
We can’t wait to see you there!
Link in bio to learn more about The Lunchbox program and sign up for weekly summer emails.
This school year, we were fortunate to host a high school senior as a Food Systems Intern. Ephraim Elmer, a second-generation farmer from Lowell, VT, grew up participating in our Farm-to-School programs and has come full circle as a member of our team. Over the past year, Ephraim contributed to many aspects of our organization, but especially stood out in his work supporting Farm Direct at the CAE warehouse in Hardwick each Monday.
We are grateful for Ephraim’s contributions this year, and look forward to seeing all he accomplishes as he begins his farming career!
Last week, Ephraim was recognized by the Vermont Land Trust with a Land Steward Award for his commitment to sustainable farming. Reflecting on his future, Ephraim shares, “For the past few years I have wanted to become a farmer, and knowing the importance of sustainable agriculture has only given me more incentive.” 🌱
As we head into the last few days of school, Newport Town School is having a blast with the animals at Coventry Falls Alpaca & Camels farm. Most classes were able to come to the farm, meet and feed the herd of alpacas, the two camels, and learned about wool and fiber arts. 🦙🦙Thank you to Christina and Mary Cobb of Coventry Falls for having us and extending a warm welcome to the students of Newport Town School!
Thanks to our generous lead sponsors!
