Month: August 2013

A tool producers and distributors can use to inform the markets and scale of production they should pursue based on their stage of development.

Thank you Ellen Kahler from Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund for explaining this concept to me on my independent project 5th day!

Triangle of Development_Batson

Through our 5th days and in my work at the Agency of Agriculture, I can’t help but think of what would happen if non-profits and philanthropic organizations didn’t exist. Our food system would be much messier than it already is.

While taking time to appreciate the role these organizations play, I also can’t help but think what could happen if the philanthropic money runs out–do we go back to a screwy food system motivated solely by profit margins?

I propose that we generate ideas as to how non-profits can be composed of two arms, one that makes a profit and the other that does good.

In the long-run, these organizations need to become financial stable once food systems, food access and Farm-to-[blank] programs lose their “sexiness”. Following something like the Shelburne Farms model, non-profits should look to diversify their business to include for-profit businesses that maybe cater to the wealthier tourists and second-home owners that come to Vermont. I personally wish that we wouldn’t have to tie tourism to agriculture, but let’s face it–tourists come to Vermont because of the agrarian landscape.

That being said, farmers never receive any tourist dollars unless a tourist visits the farm or eats in a Farm-to-Table restaurant. The service industry (hotels, retailers and restaurants) reap all the benefits Vermont’s farmers work so hard to produce (not to mention that these industries don’t recognize the business farms bring them and still demand lower food prices). So why tie the service industry to our farms, our food education programs, etc. Instead of making producer co-ops, let’s make real community supported agriculture with producer-consumer relationships that are truly mutually beneficial.

We could tie together a couple of restaurants, a couple of hotels, a few schools, maybe a bakery and a few farms. All would initially invest in the farm at the beginning of the year and have access  to the food it produces. If the farm produces more than it had planned for its co-op partners and markets, the additional food could be distributed in-kind or sold to create a dividend, where the farm acts like a company with a number of investors. This way food production would have decreased up-front costs, risk management and the assurance of a few, key, guaranteed markets. Such a system would allow the profits restaurants and hotels make on tourists to be invested in the farmers that bring them their customers and sustain the system.