Welcome Farmers

This is a great time to be farming and the Upper Valley is a great place to farm. Valley Food & Farm is here to help our Upper Valley farms thrive. We provide marketing assistance, sales opportunities, advising, and education. Read below and get in touch to see how we can help you grow.

How we can help: Farmer Resources

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How we can help: Marketing

Flavors of the Valley

Meet 800 customers at our annual Local Foods Expo in April.

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Valley Food & Farm Guide

List your food business in the Valley Food & Farm Guide- for free.

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Farm to School Network

Connect with your local school with the Upper Valley Farm to School Network.

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Valley Food & Farm News

Apply for a Farm to School Mini-Grant!

We are excited to announce the 2019 mini-grant program from Vital Communities' Upper Valley Farm to School Network! Funding is available to both Vermo [...]

Food Hub Forum for Farmers February 6!

Join Vital Communities and Food Connects Wednesday February 6 from 4-6 pm at Piecemeal Pie in White River Junction for a forum to learn about how y [...]

Flavors of the Valley 2019 – Call for Vendors!

Vend at Flavors of the Valley! Registration is open for the 18th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. [...]

Vendor Mini-Grants for Flavors!

Vital Communities is pleased to announce mini-grants for 2019 Flavors of the Valley vendors! These grants will help your farm, food business, [...]

Whole Farm Planning Group

Starting or running a farm business can be all-consuming, with tyranny of the urgent monopolizing your days, leaving little time to think about the bi [...]

2018 Farmer Celebration Mixer

Join us to celebrate the work we did together in 2018! Do your chores early, leave the spreadsheets behind, and come share some beer, crepes, and far [...]

Farmers’ Market Roundtable

Join Vital Communities and NOFA VT for a Farmers' Market Roundtable November 7, 2018 from 4-7 pm at the Wilder Club & Library in Hartford, Verm [...]

Farmers' Market Fresh Cooking Demos in September

Love to shop at the farmers' market, and want to learn a new tip or recipe for cooking with all the great produce that is available this month? Join [...]

Strengthening Farmers’ Markets

An exciting project for the Upper Valley Farmers' Market Collaborative is helping markets identify areas to improve or strengthen. A market mig [...]

August is NH Eat Local Month!

Enjoy the Local Bounty during NH Eat Local Month Visit the Farmers’ Market, Join a Virtual Scavenger Hunt, and Eat Local this August Get your appe [...]

Visit Our Food & Farm Blog

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Calendar

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Vital Communities Program News

Shop or Buy Local First is a common call to action. The threat to local businesses with competition from online commerce is real and growing, so it is important to patronize local businesses if we ...more

Flavors of the Valley - Call for Vendors!

Vend at Flavors of the Valley! Registration is open for the 18th annual Flavors of the Valley, the Upper Valley’s premier local food tasting expo. With 50+ vendors and more than 1000 attendees, Flavors is a valuable marketing opportunity for ...more

Get your bike, boots, or shoes ready!

Get your bike, boots, or shoes ready! From our friends at Local Motion comes the Winter Edition of Vermont's Bike-Walk Challenge, February 1 to 8! Simply record two bike or walk commutes in the Go! Vermont app ...more

The Housing Shortage Affects All of Us

It is no secret that there is a shortage of homes to buy or rent in the Upper Valley. That shortage affects all of us. Read more in this Valley News op-ed from Vital Communities' Corporate ...more

Join Vital Communities at Northern Stage!

Looking for a fun way to spend a January evening? Join Vital Communities for a pre-show reception at Northern Stage on January 31 from 5:30 to 6:30pm in advance of Venus Rising. Local playwright Marisa ...more

Local First Members Give Back!

Locally owned businesses are rooted in the Upper Valley and donate time and money to the community every month of the year as they support nonprofits, schools, and communities. Keep your dollars where your heart and support ...more

Think Local First & SAVE this Season!

Local and independent businesses bring value to our communities in many ways: preserving community character, creating stable jobs, supporting area organizations and nonprofits, and strengthening our local economy by keeping our dollars in the Upper ...more

Seeking Bids from Solar Installers by Nov. 30

Vital Communities is teaming up with Kearsarge Climate Action to launch a Solarize Kearsarge campaign in spring 2019, following on the tails of the upcoming Weatherize Kearsarge campaign launching in January 2019. We are seeking proposals ...more

Thank you, Ben!

This summer we had the privilege of working with Ben Fletcher, pictured second from left. Ben brought an incredibly well suited array of skills to Vital Communities and was a boon to the Valley Quest ...more

Donuts & Hogwarts: A Transit Travel Training Case Study

One thing a group of Millennial cartoonists doesn’t need is help using a smartphone app – especially an intuitive one that shows the real-time location of buses in the rural transit system, Advance Transit. No, ...more

Lebanon Area Businesses - Join us on Sept. 27

So many small businesses in the Upper Valley are burdened with high energy costs. And not enough time to do anything about it! We've got some good news for you. A group of Lebanon residents are ...more

Bird and Quest

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies lists 382 species of bird that occur in Vermont, whether year-long resident or migratory visitor. The VCE’s Vermont Atlas of Life citizen science operation has recorded sightings of 332 of ...more

Subbasin Spotlight!

This year's Aquatic Adventure Super Quest showcases the 5 subbasins that make up the Upper Connecticut River Valley, or, more fondly, the Upper Valley. A subbasin is a term used to describe a watershed within a ...more

A Lot Lighter with More Hands: Leadership Upper Valley

On the bright, sunny morning of June 13, Cobb Hill was waking up, and the soon-to-be graduating 2018 Leadership Upper Valley class was just arriving for their final meeting. Before the ceremony at Harpoon Brewery, ...more

Buses are FREE Thursday for Dump the Pump Day!

Join people around the Upper Valley and nationwide and take the bus Thursday, June 21 for the 13th annual Dump the Pump Day. Stagecoach and Connecticut River Transit ("The Current") will be FARE-FREE. And Advance Transit ...more

Longevity & Commitment: Keynote Remarks from Heroes & Leaders 2018

Editor's Note: Many thanks to Kevin Peterson, Director of Economic Development for the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority, who offered the keynote speech at our May 3 Heroes & Leaders celebration. Read his complete remarks ...more

Long-Standing Stewards: Heroes & Leaders 2018

Every spring, Leadership Upper Valley, a program of Vital Communities, hosts a Heroes & Leaders celebration to recognize individuals who make significant contributions to the greater Upper Valley region. This year, Heroes & Leaders is ...more

Get Stoked on Automated Wood Heat!

Boiler on its last legs? Looking to opt out of fossil fuels? Come learn about today's self-stoking automated wood heat! Opt out of oil with delivery of local wood pellets and whole home wood heating ...more

Staff

Becka Warren

Valley Food & Farm Communications Coordinator

Food & Farm

802.291.9100 x 112

email
phone phone

Food & Farm

— Becka Warren, Valley Food & Farm Communications Coordinator

Part of Vital Communities' Valley 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

Valley Food & Farm Manager

Food & Farm

802.291.9100 x 105

email
phone phone

Food & Farm

— Beth Roy, Valley Food & Farm Manager

Before joining Vital Communities, Beth Roy 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. Beth is also on the boards of the Vermont Science Teacher Association (VSTA) and the Vermont State-Wide Environmental Education Programs (SWEEP), 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. 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.

Lauren Griswold

Valley Quest and Volunteer Coordinator, Valley Food & Farm Program Assistant

Valley Quest, Food & Farm

802.291.9100 x 107

email
phone phone

Valley Quest, Food & Farm

— Lauren Griswold, Valley Quest and Volunteer Coordinator, Valley Food & Farm Program Assistant

Lauren Griswold joined Vital Communities in May 2017 to coordinate Power of Produce (POP) clubs at Upper Valley farmers' markets and farmstands. In August 2017 she became our Valley Quest and Volunteer Coordinator, in addition to her role as the Valley Food & Farm Program Assistant. Lauren grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2011 with a Bachelor's degree in English and Environmental Studies. Her passion for sustainable agriculture took her out West, where she served as a garden educator in Bend, Oregon. After an enriching chapter in the high desert, Lauren is thrilled to be back in central Vermont. She is passionate about the rich communities and natural beauty of the Upper Valley, and enjoys engaging the next generation with wonder and enthusiasm about this special place. In her free time, Lauren can be found mountain biking, cross country skiing, gardening, knitting, and savoring meals with friends and family.

Nancy LaRowe

Local First Manager and Valley Food & Farm Coordinator

Food & Farm

802.291.9100 x 106

email
phone phone

Food & Farm

— Nancy LaRowe, Local First Manager and Valley Food & Farm Coordinator

Nancy joined Vital Communities as the Valley 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, Vt. 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.