Funds to Support your Farm To School Project

We are thrilled to offer annual mini-grants of up to $500 to support farm to school projects in the Upper Valley. These grants will help your school, afterschool program, or school-related wellness program launch (or continue) projects related to farms, our agricultural heritage, farm products, food production, or local food consumption at the school.

Read about the 10 schools and daycare facilities that received 2021 grants!

Farm to School Mini-Grants

Funds to Support your Farm To School Project

We are thrilled to offer our 2021 mini-grants of up to $500 to support farm to school projects in the Upper Valley. These grants will help your school, afterschool program, or school-related wellness program launch (or continue) projects related to farms, our agricultural heritage, farm products, food production, or local food consumption at the school.

All schools in the Vital Communities service area are welcome to apply! Reach out to Beth Roy with any questions or for assistance. We are excited to support your farm to school projects.

Thank you to the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for supporting these grants.

The maximum mini-grant award is $500. Both New Hampshire and Vermont schools are eligible to apply for funds.

Eligible Schools

All public and private schools in the Vital Communities service area are eligible to apply. Lead applicants must be directly affiliated with school programs. School staff, including teachers, administrators, food service, facilities, and/or garden/farm to school coordinators, are ideal candidates. Only one grant will be provided per project, but schools can propose multiple projects for funding. We encourage collaborative projects with multiple grades.

How to Apply

Applicants must fill out a simple application by March 12th.

APPLY TODAY

We strongly encourage you to call Beth Roy, Farm to School Coordinator at 802.291.9100 x105 and discuss your project if you have any questions. Applications received by March 12 will get first consideration, and thereafter applications will be considered on a rolling basis. We have 10 grants of $500 to distribute, and eligible applications will be awarded on merit and geographical representation around the Upper Valley.

Past Farm to School Mini-Grant Recipients and Projects

Juice Me on Veggies, Bethel Elementary and Whitcomb Jr/Sr High School, Bethel, VT

Culinary Kids – Healthy Cooking Class for Preschoolers,Children’s Center of the Upper Valley, Lebanon, NH

Perennial Garden, Creative Lives After School Program, White River Junction, VT

Building Our Garden Classroom, Hartford Memorial Middle School, White River Junction, VT

FTS Taste Tests, Newton School, South Strafford, VT

Growing Potatoes, Carrots and Squash, Raven’s Wood Outdoor School for Renegades, Thetford Center, VT

3rd-Grade Farm Field Trips, Upper Valley Waldorf School, Quechee, VT

Cultivating Community, Woodstock Union Middle and High School, Woodstock, VT

New Farmer
Advising

Learn More

Valley Food & Farm staff are able help with your specific situation or question. We work with farmers who are in the dreaming/planning stage, just starting out, and/or growing their farm business.

Nancy LaRowe, our Valley Food & Farm Coordinator, is our farmer-in-residence.
Give her a call at 802.291.9100 x106 or email, she is happy to help with:

  • Individual consultation, focused on making an action plan to start or enhance your farm business
  • Directing you to resources if you are having trouble figuring out who to call for help in a specific area
  • Linking you to technical assistance within our New Farmer Network for business planning, production assistance, land access, access to capital, legal concerns, and many other topics.

Find Open Local Businesses and Farms. Search the Vital Communities Guide.

Join our Farmer Discussion

Learn More

Link in to the Upper Valley’s farming community with The Upper Valley Farmer Community Discussion List. To subscribe send a blank message to uvfarming-subscribe@lists.valley.net Subscribers can post a message to this list by simply emailing a message to uvfarming@lists.valley.net

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Vital Communities Program News

Hats Off to Our Four Departing Board Members

An earlier version of this post had an incorrect title for Sally Kraft. At its May 20 meeting, the Vital Communities Board of Directors bid farewell to Board of Directors members Bill Geraghty, Sally Kraft, Ronald ...more

Meet Vital Communities' New Directors

An earlier version of this post had an incorrect job title for new Board member Greg Norman. At its May 20, 2021, meeting, the Vital Communities Board of Directors welcomed seven new members, more than replacing ...more

Keynote Speech, Leadership Upper Valley Graduation, June 9, 2021,

The following speech was delivered by Monique Priestley, Chair, Vital Communities Board of Directors, at the Leadership Upper Valley Graduation on June 9, 2021, at the  Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee, VT. Hi, everyone! ...more

WAY TO GO! SPRING CHALLENGE

JOIN THE CHALLENGE MAY 1-16 AND BE ENTERED TO WIN PRIZES! Spring is here, so it’s a great time to Get Up and Go! Take the challenge to walk, bike, roll, bus, or carpool May 1 ...more

Launching Year 2 of the Upper Valley E-Bike Library!

Do you wish biking was part of your life? E-bikes can greatly increase that possibility. E-bikes (electric bikes) are like regular bikes but with an electric motor in addition to human-powered pedals, a battery to ...more

April 8: "Investing in Home Creation"

Investing for Home Creation Thursday, April 8, 5:30 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwM8Z2FD3Q The Upper Valley faces a shortage of housing, particularly in the lower-cost sector, that's affecting our ability to be a vibrant, equitable community. This session discussed how even ...more

April 15, 2021: “Putting Your Money to Work Locally: Investing Clubs 101”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnLZ7akjtGw Interested in investing locally but don’t want to do it alone? Investment clubs pool money to collectively invest in local businesses and bring a social aspect to the process – they make investment fun! In this ...more

Valley Quests Open May 1—including a Guided Event to a Vernal Pool!

Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 1: It's a big one for Valley Quests! Not only is May 1 Opening Day for Quests—"treasure hunts" that share the natural and cultural history of 160+ special areas in ...more

Have an Idea That Could Use a Lift?

New Hampshire Businesses, Farmers, Entrepreneurs, Nonprofits, Community Initiatives:  Do you have an incredible project just waiting to happen? Want to grow your organization, our community, and the local economy, but don’t have access to capital? The Local Crowd ...more

Free Webinar on Writing Waterway Quests, April 8

Valley Quests are treasure hunts set in special locations around the Upper Valley. Each Quest follows a unique set of clues that teach you about a place’s ecology, wildlife, and history while leading to a ...more

NH Route 120 Improvements Near Exit 18

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) has recently begun a project to study multi-modal improvements to NH Route 120 from Hanover Street to Etna Road in Lebanon, NH. This project (NHDOT reference #29612) seeks ...more

Quest to the Star!

Have you seen the star alight upon Mt. Tom in Woodstock?  Wouldn't it be fun to see it up close?  You can if you follow the clues of the Mt. Tom Quest. The star traditionally ...more

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Save Energy

This week marks the close of Vital Communities and volunteers’ 2020 Vermont Energy Savings project in seven towns in the Vermont side of the Upper Valley. Vital Communities partnered with Sustainable Woodstock (serving Woodstock, Hartland, ...more

Weatherize Webinar, August 17

Weatherize Webinar with NHSaves Monday, August 17 at Noon Did Covid-19 stop your 2020 weatherization plans in their tracks? NOW is the right time to jump back on the weatherize band wagon. Lower energy bills and cozy ...more

Welcome 31 New Upper Valley Change-makers

Vital Communities celebrated the graduation of the Leadership Upper Valley Class of 2020 on Wednesday, June 10. This event marked the program’s 14th graduating class, as 31 local leaders completed the 10-month program with a ...more

Five Inspiring Stories

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Stand in Your Circle of Strength and Lead

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Heroes & Leaders: Creating a Vital Upper Valley

Every spring, Leadership Upper Valley, a program of Vital Communities, hosts the annual Heroes & Leaders Celebration to recognize individuals who make significant contributions to the Upper Valley. In 2019, we are pleased to honor ...more

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Staff

Becka Warren

Food & Farm Coordinator

Food & Farm

 802-291-9100 x112

Food & Farm

— Becka Warren, Food & Farm Coordinator

Part of Vital Communities' Food & Farm team since 2012, Becka fosters relationships that keep agriculture a daily part of community life in the Upper Valley. She works with current and future farmers, businesses, schools, and partners across Vermont and New Hampshire to build connections that support farm viability and keep our landscapes working. Becka lived in Seattle for many years, where she worked for the Washington State University Small Farms Program, Cascade Harvest Coalition, Seattle Tilth, and area vegetable farms. Becka is also a writer, founding and writing Ask Umbra at gristmagazine.com until 2009. She holds a BA from Brown University and lives in Hartland, Vermont, with her family.



Beth Roy

Food & Farm Manager

Valley Quest, Food & Farm

 802-291-9100 x105

Valley Quest, Food & Farm

— Beth Roy, Food & Farm Manager

Beth leads Vital Communities' Food & Farm team, including its Upper Valley Farm to School programming, and also oversees Valley Quest. Before joining Vital Communities, Beth worked in the environmental and place-based education fields for 17 years in various positions around New England including at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and as the Director of Education at the Nature Museum in Grafton, Vt. She previously served on the boards of the Vermont Science Teacher Association and the Vermont State-Wide Environmental Education Programs, a coalition of dozens of individuals and organizations promoting sustainability and environmental education in Vermont. Beth is a New Hampshire native and lives in Hartland, Vt., with her husband and two children, and serves on the Hartland School Board. When Beth is not working you will find her exploring the woods around her home with her family or cooking up a new taste test (made of local foods, of course!) for her children.



Doreen Guillette

Assistant to the Executive Director, Flavors Coordinator

Food & Farm

 802-291-9100 x104

Food & Farm

— Doreen Guillette, Assistant to the Executive Director, Flavors Coordinator

Doreen Guillette joined Vital Communities in January 2020 as the Flavors of the Valley Coordinator and Assistant to the Executive Director, with many years of administrative and management experience at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, self-employment, and volunteering. An Upper Valley native, Doreen spends most of her time and energy caring for her mini-farm and a large family in Norwich. She is a strong advocate for local community and is president of the Beaver Meadow Chapel, Trustee of the Beaver Meadow Schoolhouse, and Co-Chair of the West Norwich Community Resilience Organization. Doreen enjoys hiking, kayaking, writing poetry, nature photography, and cooking meals that come from her own land.



Nancy LaRowe

Food & Farm and Local First Coordinator

Local First, Food & Farm

 802-291-9100 x106

Local First, Food & Farm

— Nancy LaRowe, Food & Farm and Local First Coordinator

Nancy joined Vital Communities as the Food & Farm Coordinator in 2014. She works to support and grow our local food system and economy. Nancy has lived, worked, and farmed in the Upper Valley for more than 25 years and believes our community is healthier and stronger when our connections to food and the farms that produce it stay vital.

Nancy's informal job title is Farmer-in-Residence: she also runs a pasture-based cattle farm in Norwich. Nancy is on the Board of the Norwich Farmers' Market and a retired Norwich volunteer firefighter and EMT. She loves puttering in the garden, hiking with her dog, and visiting farmers' markets.