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Cultivating Connections
June 2024
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🛒💰 Thank you for rounding up!💰🛒 | |
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🤸🏽♀️ We broke all records with the Middlebury Natural Food Co-op's Rally for Change fundraiser in May! 🪙 You Rounded Up $2,076, and the Co-op Matched $2,076 for a grand total of $4,153 - a Co-op record! 💰
🥦 This funding supports our Farmacy: Food is Medicine program which provides free CSA shares of local, organic fruit and veg to 100 families in our community. Farmacy is part of a larger statewide movement; learn more about the Vermont CSA and Healthcare Community of Practice here and here. Take a deep dive into Food as Medicine with this NYU lecture on the topic. 👩🏻🌾
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We've started a weekly farmers' market table at Wake Robin in Shelburne! Many farmers don't have the capacity to add another market to their busy summer days, so ACORN stepped in to fill a gap in our elders' access to fresh, local food.
Last Friday was our pilot day and we sold out of many items including eggs, ground beef, radishes and salad mix! (That's one of our Middlebury College summer interns, Bailey, in the middle of Lindsey and Lilah at Wake Robin. Left, Food Hub Manager Jess prepares to deliver bulk salad greens.)
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🍨🧆🫘 Partnership with Green Mountain Farm Direct brings range of new products 🍨🧆🫘 | |
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Another new partnership has emerged this season, with NEK food hub Green Mountain Farm Direct. We now have unique, Vermont-made, value added items including bean burgers, falafel patties, tofu, ice cream and fresh pasta!
The market is open every Friday 12pm - Monday 10am.
We offer delivery service to select locations; inquire if we serve your area. $100 order minimum applies to delivery orders.
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We're Halfway Sold Out of the 2024 Tour de Farms | |
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Early bird tickets are on sale for our 16th annual bike ride. We once again have two routes, a family-friendly 10 mile, and a more challenging 30 mile - both will take riders through the rolling hills of Shoreham and Orwell. (If you're not an avid bike rider, try renting an e-bike from one of our local bike shops!) Sign up now to save money and reserve your spot. We have sold out for the past three years. + Some volunteers ride for free!
Stops include:
- Golden Russet Farm & Greenhouses
- Rolling Bale Farm
- Lazy Dog Farm
- The Orwell Green
- Danz Ahn Dairy
- Norton's Gallery of Woodcarvings
- Champlain Orchards
- Douglas Orchard
- Shoreham Apple Fest
This is our largest fundraiser of the year!
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🏳️🌈 Farming with Pride 🏳️🌈 | |
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As pride month wraps up, we want to highlight articles and organizations supporting rural queerness and agriculture across the country:
Jac Wypler, the Farmer Mental Health Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition, gave a keynote speech at last year's Common Ground Fair in Maine.They address mental health, queerness, and their intersections in agricultural communities in this 30 minute clip.
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New Online Pick-Your-Own Farm Directory | |
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🫐 It’s almost time for blues!
🍒 We are in prime Pick Your Own season with strawberries finishing up and cherries, raspberries and blueberries making their appearances.
🗺️ How to find a farm near you? Pick up a copy of our local food and farm guide at a nearby library, cafe, grocery or hardware store, or check out this new map from the Vermont Vegetable & Berry Growers Association: a Pick-Your-Own Farm Finder.
🌸 "Pick-your-own" farms offer crops from early summer until the first frost in fall, including apples, blueberries, cut flowers, pumpkins, strawberries and more. Experience the benefits of pick-your-own this summer!
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Farmer + Producer Resources | |
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🥒 Throughout the Year, Buy Local 🥬
ACORN's Online Market is flush with summer veggies! For all your salad, dipping, grilling, canning and pickling dreams!
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Cultivate Community (Events)! | |
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We're so glad to be in community together.
May your summer be full of refreshing river dips, juicy BBQ meals and delicious relaxation! ☀️
Lindsey, Jess, Lilah and the ACORN Board
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