Northeast Organic Farming Assocvt

The local food access program works across a broad spectrum of efforts on the consumer side of the food system to expand access and develop the market for local and Organic food. This team includes: support for school and other institutional food service pressionals about how to procure and utilize local food; marketing and and tecnnical assistance support for direct marketing farms; coordination of the Vermont farmers market association; support and technical assistance direct marketers and farmers markets to accept 3squaresvt/snap benefits, and our related food access programs, farmshare (sliding scale cost sharing for csas) and cropcash/farm stand match(1:1 match for transactions using 3squaresvt benefits at particpating farmers markets/farm stands).

The Vermont Organic farmers program certifies farms and processors to the usda regulartion for Organic production. Over 730 farms and processors were certified Organic in 2023. The program is operated under Vermont Organic farmers llc (vof) and is accredited under the usda national Organic program, which allows producers to continue to be certified by vof and to use the vof certification logo to represent their products as Organic.

The farmer service program provides customized farm business planning support to farmers at all stages of business development to develop plans and build the skills needed to meet their business and quality of life goals. We work with farms that are certificed Organic, transiioning to Organic or that are using Organic practices. Services are delivered at the individual farm level and also through cultivation of peer learning opportunities, bringing together cohorts of famers, and offering a wide array of educational and netowrking opportunities.

The development and engagement program works to expand the number of people involved in the movement for thriving Organic famrs and agriculturally- rooted communities and bring in resources to support this growing body of work. This is accomplished by providing movement building events and opportunities to learn about agriculture and the food system. Events include the annual winter conference and on farm summer events. The advocacy program works on both state and federal levels to advance policy solutions to systemic problems, while centering Organic agricultural practices as a key climate solution and farms and farmworkers as frontline workers. The progrma seeks to convene conversations, push public conversations and provide community organizing and education that will build a more resilient and equitable food system.