Vermont Farm to Plate: Planning for Sustainable and Secure Food and Farming Systems

COVID-19 has highlighted the vulnerabilities of global and national food systems. Even as Australia was repeatedly reassured of the security of its food supply, in 2020 we’ve seen panic buying that emptied supermarket shelves, rising rates of unemployment and food insecurity, and a disproportionately affected migrant seasonal workforce. With the critical challenges of climate change at our doorstep, and rapidly rising costs of dietary-related ill-health, the integrity of our food and farming systems demands our attention.

This December, we will, for the first time, have the opportunity to learn directly from the leaders of the organisation responsible for the implementation of the Vermont Farm to Plate plan—by many accounts one of the most comprehensive and long-term food and farming system programs of its kind. Across three weekly webinars, Director Jake Claro and Network Manager Sarah Danly will discuss how the decade-old program has successfully increased employment, business creation and food security through collaborative, whole-of-system actions and networking, aligned to a shared agenda of a better food and farming system for Vermont. They will be joined by practitioners and policy makers from across Australia who will share state and local initiatives, and discuss how the Vermont approach might be applied in our context.

Everyone involved in food systems communities of practice —including producers, policy-makers, food businesses, community organisations, statutory and strategic planners, health service professionals, sustainability professionals, food security organisations and networks, educators and researchers—are invited to attend.