Keeping Agriculture a Vital Part of Upper Valley Life
Upper Valley Farm to School
Upper Valley Farm to School Network
Welcome to the Upper Valley Farm to School Network! The Network is all the educators, farmers and community members working to integrate local food and farms into the classrooms, cafeterias and communities of our region. Our staff is available to help you with your farm to school projects, be they large or small, so please contact us.
Services
Our staff is here to support your farm to school work.
I hope this note finds you all healthy and adjusting to the routines of remote learning and teaching. I know my family and I are starting to feel a [...]
Climate and Community Resilience: Lessons from the Soil
Spring Community Webinar Series to Unpack What Creating Our Future Looks Like
What is good f [...]
Get the information you need to move forward with a renewable energy or energy efficiency project in Vermont or New Hampshire. Join Ken Yearman, Rural [...]
Kale. Carrots. Beets. Potatoes. Powerkraut®!
These are just a few of the delightful local foods I've received from Root 5 Farm over the past few m [...]
Meet Your Local Farm to School Network!
The Upper Valley Farm to School Network invites you to gather in your region to build local connections w [...]
Calling all Vermont Farmers!
You're invited to the second annual From the State House to the Farmhouse event on
Sunday September 22nd from 1-4 pm
[...]
We have an exciting project for new farmers in the White River valley portion of our region! The High Meadows Fund is supporting a series of free pe [...]
Check out the hottest new vendors and returning favorites! Samples are listed if the vendor has provided sampling information. Vendors will also have [...]
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 [...]
Schools with Farm to School Projects in the Upper Valley
Each of these Upper Valley schools has a unique farm to school program. Some are as simple as a school garden bed, others involve yearly harvest parties, curricular integration, and local purchasing in the cafeteria.Contact usto get involved, or to expand your own farm to school programming.
Windsor County, VT
Ascutney Basin
Barnard Academy
Bridgewater Village School
Hartford Memorial Middle School
Hartland Elementary School
Pomfret
Reading Elementary
Sharon Elementary
Upper Valley Waldorf School
Windsor State Street School
Woodstock Elementary School
Funding for the Upper Valley Farm to School Network is provided by the Wellborn Ecology Fundof the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation – Upper Valley Region, Jane B. Cook 1983 Charitable Trust, The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, and The Couch Family Foundation.
Orange County, VT
Bradford Elementary School
Cedar Circle Farm
The Newton School in Strafford
Thetford Elementary School
Grafton County, NH
Hanover High School
The Lyme School
The Ray School
Photo Gallery
Funding for the Upper Valley Farm to School Network is provided by the Wellborn Ecology Fundof the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation – Upper Valley Region, Jane B. Cook 1983 Charitable Trust, The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, and The Couch Family Foundation.
For “Get Out & Bike” Week we asked the Vital Communities network to submit their favorite hometown bike rides, ideally 10 miles and under. Here are some of the submissions!
ENFIELD: Around Mascoma Lake (7 miles)
Start in downtown ...more
A quick update on Upper Valley housing from our Workforce Housing Coordinator, Mike Kiess:
Support for people experiencing homeless and housing insecurity has been expanded on both sides of the river. In Vermont, the state has ...more
Ever wanted to cook a meal from a local restaurant in your own kitchen? Now you can! Released last Friday, the “Isolate and Create” digital cookbook features delicious recipes from 15 Vermont restaurants. All profits ...more
Do you own an Upper Valley business that is suffering due to the effects of the pandemic and could use a little help from your friends? TLC 4WARD Upper Valley is here for you.
The Local ...more
Getting outdoors is good for your mental, physical, and spiritual health, especially during this time of added stress due to COVID-19. We are closely following our state government recommendations in Vermont and New Hampshire regarding ...more
Work from home and help raise $500 for Vermont Foodbank. Simply record your telecommute trips in your Go! Vermont account every day that you work from home and when 500 telecommutes have been recorded, we'll ...more
Over these past few weeks I have experienced waves of anxiety and sadness, and at the same time such gratitude. I can’t imagine going through this crisis in any other part of the world. The ...more
Do you own an Upper Valley business that is impacted by Covid-19 and could use a little help from your friends? TLC/4WARD is here to help.
Vital Communities launched The Local Crowd (TLC) Upper Valley in ...more
Wendell Berry once said that by choosing to support a local business in your community, you're essentially telling that business owner, "I want you to exist. I acknowledge that you and I are neighbors and ...more
On March 18, Vital Communities held a webinar featuring five inspiring stories from energy committees across the Upper Valley. Stories included:
Electric charging stations in Bethel
An Upper Valley eBike lending library
Energy saving window ...more
You're Invited!
The 13th Annual Upper Valley Energy Committee Roundtable will be held Tuesday, September 15, 5-8 pm in West Lebanon! This annual gathering of local energy volunteers is open to all, whether you serve on an ...more
Check out this newly produced, six-minute YouTube video on Efficient Heating in Vermont, created by Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission.
The video describes the types and benefits of home heating options and describes the current rebates ...more
Join Vital Communities' Valley Quest Coordinator Beth Roy on a guided treasure hunt of the trees of Dartmouth. Celebrate fall as we discover many exotic trees around the Dartmouth College Campus and learn about their ...more
Ed. Note: On May 30, Vital Communities honored 12 community leaders who’ve added immeasurably to the vitality of the Upper Valley at its annual Heroes & Leaders Celebration. The following are the event’s keynote remarks ...more
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
On May 17, 2019 the rest of the country is celebrating National Bike to Work Day, but here in the Upper Valley we’ll be taking it a step further with our second annual Curb The ...more
We love pairing style with nighttime visibility, so we've ordered REFLECTIVE SLAP BRACELETS to reward people who bike or walk to Flavors of the Valley on Sunday, April 7!
If you bike and walk to the ...more
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
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 leads Vital Communities' Food & Farm team, including its Upper Valley Farm to School programming, and also oversees Valley Quest. 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.
Doreen Guillette
Assistant to the Executive Director, Flavors Coordinator
— 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
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.
VITAL COMMUNITIES
