VERMONT & NEW HAMPSHIRE LOCALVORES  PROJECT... 
  updated 03/30/07

The Upper Valley Food Co-op prepared a Local Veggy Soup in honor of the January Localvore Challenge.   (photo by Sharon Mueller)

In August 2005, a dozen Upper Valley Localvores challenged themselves to eating foods grown within a 100-mile radius of home.  Since then, at least ten other localvore challenges have sprouted up around VT and NH with 700-800 localvores committing themselves to eating locally grown foods! There are pods in the Champlain Valley, Mad River Valley, Addison County, Montpelier, Rutland, Brookfield, Brattleboro, Keene, Portsmouth, and the North East Kingdom as well as the Upper Valley. Vibrant groups of local food advocates have organized potlucks, workshops, film-showings, talks, socials and other events.  There has been collaboration with local food co-ops, farmers markets, restaurants, Valley Food and Farm, NOFA-VT, and VEI. Recipes have been created and shared, with lots of brainstorms and organizational meetings, blogs, and a great infusion of energy around local food and regional food self-reliance.

Many localvore pods are planning 100-mile Diet Challenges this Summer.  If you are up for a challenge, click here for nearest "pod" on the Localvore pod map  or see links below for more information.    


http://www.vitalcommunities.org/Agriculture/localvore/localvore_resources.htm#recipes




1. Invite a group of potentially-interested friends to a Localvore potluck. Ask each guest to bring food that has been grown locally.  Give guests an opportunity to "introduce" their contributions, including sources of ingredients. Discuss the possibility of an upcoming Localvore Challenge week or month. With a few committed friends you are ready to proceed!

2. Set a Localvore Challenge date. Summer might be best for your first challenge; it gives you an opportunity to talk with farmers and producers at farm stands and farmers markets. Those personal relationships add flavor to your food!

3. Set up a Localvore information table at your local farmers market, co-op, and at local events.  Samples of Localvore food and recipes tend to draw people in. (Local food advocates in the Brattleboro area created a Localvore "Starter Kit" with about a dozen local foods, such as local dried beans, flour, cornmeal, cider vinegar, honey, etc and information on Localvores which they used as a very successful fundraiser.) It helps to have a web site to which you can refer people for more info. Provide free samples of localvore dishes, recipes and Locally Grown Directories at the tables

4. Publicize your challenge.  Write a letter to the editor of your local paper inviting others to join the challenge. (You may not get a lot of response initially but you will have planted a seed.) Use local newsletters, radio, local TV to promote your challenge. Let's get "Localvore" into the vernacular!

5.  Develop a list of local sources for food. In summer, fruits and vegetables may be easy to find (in your own garden?) but sources for items like apple cider vinegar, sunflower oil, bread flour, wheat berries, corn meal, etc may be more challenging. Distribute the list to all those interested.

6. Ask questions and make suggestions at stores, co-ops, farm stands, farmers markets, restaurants.  Lobby for local options!

7. Have a potluck supper to kick-off the Challenge week/month. Create a community of localvores. (Montpelier Localvores found that a sign-board posted outside the site of their potluck, posted a week in advance, was a cheap and effective form of advertising!)

8. Have a post-challenge gathering. Plan another Challenge!


ADDITIONAL TIPS

Collaborate with your local grocery or co-op.  Co-ops and community grocery stores were very receptive to the Localvore idea and with a little help from organizers supported the challenges in the following ways:
•    Created “Locally produced” labels to put on their produce and bulk bins
•    Ran information about the localvore challenge in their regular ads and newsletters
•    Offered “Localvore” selections in their cafés and delis
•    Added local beans and grains to their bulk section
•    Published handouts listing all the locally grown/raised products in their store

Host community events to educate the public prior to the Challenge:
Well-publicized community potlucks (often held in church basements) were critical for introducing the public to the idea of a localvore challenge. 
•    Central Vermont had pre-challenge community-wide potlucks at which they showed a video and had a panel discussion with local farmers and bakers
•    Brattleboro hosted free localvore pancake breakfasts and a recipe contest

Make it easy and fun to participate
•    Champlain Valley/Burlington had bulk orders of rolled oats, popcorn and black beans ready for sale at their kick-off party in the Intervale
•    Butterfly Bakery in Montpelier offered classes on cooking with maple syrup

Publicity
•    Send out press releases and invite the local media to events
•    Give presentations to local groups (e.g. the Chamber of commerce, the Sierra Club)

Ask local inns, restaurants, schools and bakeries to serve local items on their menus during the challenge
•    The Burlington group contracted with Red Hen bakery for a localvore loaf that people purchased in advance
•    Many restaurants offered “Localvore” specials on their menus during the challenge.  Restaurants and inns are more likely to participate if they are approached in person.  It helps if there is a chef, innkeeper or restaurateur in your organizing group
•    Mad River Valley gave a presentation in a local school with a sympathetic chef and had 33 children sign pledges! The children created a cookbook of localvore recipes.

Fundraising
•    Addison County asked local businesses to sponsor their challenge.  For only $25 a business could become a sponsor and have their logo printed on our literature.
•    Mad River Valley sold books at their events to raise funds


VT, NH & ME LOCALVORE LINKS (this is not exhaustive!)
Mad River Valley:     http://www.vermontlocalvore.org
Brattleboro:     http://www.postoilsolutions.org/localvore
Burlington/Upper Champlain Valley:     http://eatlocalvt.org
Addison County:     http://www.acornvt.org
Rutland: http://skyobrien.googlepages.com/localvores
Upper Valley Localvores (VT & NH):     http://www.uvlocalvore.com
Keene NH:     http://www.hannahgrimes.com/localvore
Eat Local Coalition in Maine:     http://www.eatmainefoods.org





Knowing where our food comes from, and how it is grown or raised, enables us to choose food from farmers who avoid or reduce reliance on chemical additives, and foods which are waxed, irradiated and genetically-modified.

Buying locally supports our local farmers and our local economy. It cuts down on transportation costs, since the average distance food travels in America is 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to plate.¹

Simply buying 10% of our most common fruits and vegetables locally would save more than 300,000 gallons of fossil fuel and keep up to 9 million pounds of CO2 from being emitted. ²

¹ Brian Halweil. 2002. Home Grown. Worldwatch Institute. url: http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/paper/163/orderpage.html).
² *Pirog, R., "Food,Fuel and Freeways"; Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Vermont and New Hampshire localvore links:
http://www.eatlocalvt.org    Champlain Valley Localvores with local  food sourcelist, rationale, links and discussion board. They are issuing an August 2006 Localvore Challenge.
http://www.vermontlocalvore.org    Mad River Localvores with September challenge; food sources; books, videos, and articles on eating locally; recipes.
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/NEWS/606190359/1002 June 19,2006 article on the Mad River and Central Vermont Localvores
http://www.hannahgrimes.com/localvore/index.html   Localvores in Keene, New Hampshire

Other related localvore links:
http://www.100milediet.org/ This web site allows you to calculate a 100 radius of your home for eating locally.
http://Worldwatch.org/features/food   Features what individuals can do,"Tale of Two Tomatoes", links, info on the book "Eat Here:Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket" by Brian Halweil
http://www.sustainabletable.org/    Features issues (ex. animal welfare, antibiotics, genetic engineering, fossil fuels, health,), sustainable food in schools, recipes, cookbook reviews, feature articles.
http://www.locavores.com    Culinary adventurers supporting food grown within 100-mile radius of San Francisco with rationale, recipes, food and cooking links.
http://www.localharvest.org    Locate farms, CSAs,food co-ops and restaurants that feature local foods across the U.S.
http://vitalcommunities.org/Agriculture/agriculture.htm  Locally Grown Guide (for much of VT and NH);Tidbits newsletter; Dartmouth Local Food initiative; Localvores: rationale, recipes, food sources, etc.
http://www.farmtotable.org/index.php?cmd=F2TNews&method=view&id=121
http://www.vtcommons.org/node/189
Article by Bill McKibben "Can Vermont Feed Itself?". (After reading this excellent article, click on "Journal" in the menu and scroll down to Issue 6 October 2005; the entire issue is dedicated to local foods in VT.)
http://www.coopfoodstore.com/html/about_producers.html    Photos and descriptions of many VT/NH farmers supplying the Hanover/Lebanon-Co-op. See "Issues" in menu: excellent articles on food issues.
http://www.coopfoodstore.com/news/Archives/arch_9_04/editor.html   "Shopping for the Common Wealth"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4312591.stm      Features article "Local Food "Greener than Organic"
http://www.museletter.com/archive/159.html  "What Will We Eat as the Oil Runs Out" by Richard Heinberg, FEASTA Conference, Dublin, Ireland, June 2005.
http://www.omorganics.org/page.php?pageid=197   "Think Locally and Act Neighborly"; a comprehensive rationale for eating locally-grown foods


2006 Vermont/New Hampshire Localvore Press coverage:

"Catering to the 'Localvores': Farmers, Grocers Work to Provide Local Food on aYear-Round basis" by Chris Fleisher. Valley News, January 7, 2007
http://www.vnews.com/01072007/3708701.htm

"A Cooperative Solution to the Localvore's Dilemma" by Pat McGovern. Hanover Co-op News.  Holiday 2006.
http://www.coopfoodstore.com/news/current/coop_month.html

"Fresh Bites: Locally grown food always in season" by Melissa Pasanen. Burlington Free Press, October 11, 2006. 
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/LIVING/610110302/1004

 "Localvores Plan Pair of Potlucks, Promote Use of Local Produce" by Martha Slater.  Randolph Herald. October 5, 2006.
http://www.rherald.com/News/2006/1005/Community_News/com04.html

"Taking the 100-Mile Challenge: Better Living Through (Local) Cookery".  The Non-Toxic Times Newsletter.  October 2006. 
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/making_difference/newsletter_article.php?article=499&issue=77

"Localvores Gear Up For Challenge Week".  Valley Reporter.  September 7, 2006. http://69.54.27.89/reporter/headlines/3618Localvore.html 

"Community important for food activist and 'localvore' founder - Also what local food is available" by Erin Post. Valley Reporter. August 31, 2006. 
http://69.54.27.89/reporter/headlines/3617localvore.html

"'Localvores' Just Eat What’s Right at Hand" by Sandy Cooch.  Randolph Herald.  August 31, 2006.  http://www.rherald.com/News/2006/0831/Front_page/f08.html

"Growing a New Food Paradigm: Vermonters Plant Localvore Chapters" by Robin McDermott, Vermont Commons, Summer 2006 (Issue 15).
http://vtcommons.org/node/544

"Hungry for Change: One Woman's Week as a Localvore" by Jen Gilbert. Vermont Guardian. August 18, 2006.
http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/082006/Localvore.shtml

"Rise of the localvores: Ways to keep mealtime local" by Jedd Kettler. County Courier. August 17, 2006.  http://www.thecountycourier.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=3255

"Locally grown, nationally loved" by Harriette Brainard.  Addison Independent. July 31, 2006.  http://www.addisonindependent.com/?q=node%2F189

"Eat Here Now: Vermonters rise to the challenge of total local consumption" by Ken Picard.  Seven Days. July 12, 2006.  http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2006/eat-here-now.html

"You Are What You Don't Eat: Soon-to-be "localvores" dish up the foods they'll miss the most" by Erik Esckilsen.  Seven Days.  July 12, 2006. 
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2006/you-are-what-you-dont-eat.html

"August Challenge: Try to Eat Local" by Peter Hirschfeld.  Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.  June 19, 2006. 
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/NEWS/606190359
 

"Are You a Localvore?" by Lou Anne McLeod.  Heart of New England. April 30, 2006.
http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/lifeinnewengland/Essays/localvores.html

Radio:
New Hampshire Public Radio.  August 1, 2005.  John Walters interviews Pat McGovern. http://www.nhpr.org/node/9329

WMRW- Community Radio for the Mad River Valley.  The Dinner Hour.  November 29, 2005. Robin McDermott interviews Bill McKibben. Download Now 

WMRW- Community Radio for the Mad River Valley.  The Dinner Hour.  March 14, 2006.  Robin McDermott talks about the Localvore Project.  Download Now

Vermont Public Radio, June 16, 2006. Mitch Wertlieb interviews Robin McDermott.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/vpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=929139 

Equal Time Radio, Wednesday June 21, 2006.  Anthony Pollina talks with Robin McDermott from the Mad River Valley Localvore Project.
www.equaltimeradio.com/mp3/621local.mp3

Vermont Public Radio Commentary.  August 18, 2006.  Janisse Ray on “Localvores”.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/vpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=954765

Vermont Public Radio – Switchboard.  August 22, 2006.  “Localvores” hosted by Fran Stoddard.  Download MP3

WMRW- Community Radio for the Mad River Valley.  The Dinner Hour.  August 22, 2006.  Interview with Jessica Prentice, founder of the original Locavore Group in San Francisco hosted by Robin McDermott.  Download Now

TV:
Channel 44 (Mad River Valley TV)
Localvore interview with Kate Stephenson and Robin McDermott