Take it to the bank - Vermont Foodbank

February 25, 2009

Take it to the bank

Brattleboro Reformer

BRATTLEBORO -- Food shelves and soup kitchens in Windham County will have better access to fresh produce this summer after the Vermont Foodbank announced a new partnership with Post Oil Solutions this week.

The two groups will be working together to establish the food bank's Salvation Farms gleaning network at area farms.

Post Oil Solutions will help set up volunteer groups which will visit farms, with the approval of farmers, to go through fields after the primary harvest has been completed.

They will also pick up extra produce at the farmers' markets, with the farmers' approval.

The fresh fruits and vegetables will then be trucked to the Vermont Foodbank's new warehouse in Brattleboro where it will be repackaged and sent to soup kitchens and food shelves in the area.

"Our gleaning partnership with the Vermont Foodbank is a major advance for Post Oil's Food Security Project, and for our efforts to make quality local produce more available to people of low income in our region," said Post Oil Solutions executive director Tim Stevenson in a prepared statement. "We look forward, not only to working with the VFB on this project, but also to exploring other possibilities with them as our relationship grows. The VFB is a natural partner for Post Oil to pursue our mutual concerns around food security and food justice."

Post Oil Solutions organized a gleaning program at two area farms last summer.

Stevenson heard about the program that the food bank had organized in northern Vermont and with the group setting up a new distribution center in Brattleboro, he contacted VFB's agricultural resources director Theresa Snow.

Snow helped establish a gleaning network in Lamoille Valley in 2005, and it became an official food bank program in 2008.

Between 2005 and 2008, the Lamoille Valley group collected more than 88,000 pounds of produce.

Snow is trying to start three new gleaning programs in Vermont this summer, including the one in Windham County.

"We've been able to grow every year as awareness grows and farmers get more comfortable and come on board," Snow said.

Snow and Stevenson will meet on Friday to go over some of the specifics of the Windham gleaning network.

According to Snow, one of the most important aspects of the training program is teaching volunteers how to work in the fields without disturbing the other crops.

She said some farmers are leery of having groups walk through the fields while they are ripe with vegetables that are almost ready for harvest.

Snow said that the program has been successful to date because the group has been moving slowly and only adding volunteers and farms when they have the capacity to handle the increase appropriately.

She said Post Oil Solutions will help recruit and train volunteers and work as the local contact as the food bank established itself in Brattleboro.

"As we grow, it is going to be important for each group to focus on its community," Snow said. "It will depend on the farms that come on board and the need. We'll see what happens."

February 25, 2009

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