Working towards the Common Table: How Vermont Addresses Social Justice and Food Access with Local Food and Why it Matters
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Hunger and food insecurity are growing concerns in
the United States and around the world. Consequently,
the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
designated Global Food Security as one of the five
focal areas for the National Institute for Food and
Agriculture. Recently, the USDA released a report
indicating that 13.6% of Vermonters are food insecure
(up from 9.6% in 2004-2006) and 6.2% are hungry
(“very low food security”) compared to the national
averages of 13.5% food insecure and 5.2% hungry
(Nord, Coleman-Jensen, Andrews, & Carlson, 2010).
At the same time, farmers in Vermont are struggling.
The average net income of Vermont farms according
to the USDA’s 2007 Agriculture Census was $22,816/
year. This indicates the financial risk associated with
agriculture and the challenges that Vermont farmers
face in achieving business viability.
Unconnected strategies that either enhance food
access or build economic success for agriculture
may work at each other’s expense. Hence there is a
growing need for efforts that simultaneously support
access to high quality, local food for low-income
Vermonters while ensuring fair return to Vermont
farmers. Approaches driven by this dual-goal have
great potential to strengthen communities and further
social equity, both important tenets of sustainable
agriculture.