How Can a City-Dweller Get Fresh Food from the Farms of Vermont? Farmers To You
Farmers To You is one of the many unique organizations that the Boston Local Food Festival will showcase on October 7, 2012 at the Rose Kennedy Greenway. This partnership of Vermont farmers and Boston-area families is an innovative program working to create a sustainable regional food system. The program links high-quality food from Vermont with families in the Boston area. Farmers and specialty food producers in Vermont can focus on growing and making great food, while Farmers To You does the work of distributing the food to families in eastern Massachusetts, where demand is high for exceptional produce, meat, and dairy products.
This new model of food distribution is a year and a half old, and it has seen great success thus far. Unlike a CSA, families participating in this program can order exactly what food they want each week. They can choose from several options of fresh vegetables, fruit, dairy, meat, grains and more. Families submit their orders on Sunday night, and on Wednesday they pick up their food at one of twelve Boston-area drop sites. The food is extremely fresh because of this quick turnaround time, and the quality is top-notch. The program runs year-round, so it provides a great alternative to the grocery store even in the winter months. Most of the farms are certified organic, and many of those that aren’t certified do use organic and sustainable practices. For families whose schedules don’t work with a typical CSA routine or whose tastes are particular, this is a great new option for obtaining wonderful food grown in New England. I love my CSA, but sometimes I don’t particularly want another bunch of kale for the sixth week in a row.
Greg Georgaklis, who has been at the forefront of Farmers To You since its inception, hopes to replicate this model in Western Massachusetts and other parts of New England in the years to come. He is looking forward to participating in the Boston Local Food Festival for the second year in a row. He sees the festival as a great opportunity to introduce Boston-area families to what they do at Farmers To You, and also to connect with others in the local food movement.
Several farms and producers from this Vermont initiative will be on hand at the Farmers To You table at the festival, including Red Hen Bread (Middlesex, VT), Vermont Salumi (Plainfield, VT), and several others. They will be distributing samples as well as providing information about their program. Check out their website, www.farmerstoyou.com, to see all the wonderful choices this program offers. And don’t miss their table at the festival!
This post was written by Annemarie Rossi of Real Food, Real Deals, go check her out!