Media Invited to Visit with Students on Statewide Farm and Food Summer Study Tour
Members of the press are invited to connect with student leaders from across the nation on tour in Vermont from May 31 – June 20. The Vermont Food Systems Summer Study Tour invites students to move from the classroom to field and forest with an immersion that weaves together a thorough study of Vermont’s food system, a model for the nation.
Learning to lead, students will experience classes at Vermont colleges and graduate schools, and gain field-based insight into the work of entrepreneurs and policy makers as part of a three-week immersion on how communities source, grow, process, purchase, and contemplate food.
An approximate schedule follows; the schedule is subject to change. Schedule includes themed classroom time as listed. Please call media fellow Ivars Balkits prior to connecting: 740.274.6088.
Monday, June 1: Capitol, Capital, and Capitalizing on Tradition, Montpelier. Vermont Council on Rural Development, Agency of Agriculture overview, Farm to Plate strategies, NECI sausage demo and dinner.
Tuesday, June 2: Building an Urban Farm System, University of Vermont, Burlington. UVM Extension, Catamount Farm.
Wednesday, June 3: Farm to Institution, University of Vermont, Burlington. Vermont FEED, Burlington Public Schools, Real Food Challenge, Sodexho.
Thursday, June 4: Production, Distribution and Retail Models, Burlington. Intervale, City Market.
Friday, June 5: Artisan Cheese and Rural Revitalization, Sterling College, Craftsbury.
Saturday, June 6: Sterling College, Craftsbury. Tour of Hardwick.
Monday, June 8: Cattle, Carbon, Capital, Vermont Technical College, Randolph.
Tuesday, June 9: Vermont Technical College, Randolph. Vermont Tech dairy, regional slaughterhouse.
Wednesday, June 10: Vermont Technical College, Randolph. Vermont Tech vegetable operation, Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford, Chelsea Green Publishing in White River Junction.
Thursday, June 11 – Friday June 12: Food System Advocacy and GMOs, Vermont Law School, South Royalton.
Saturday, June 13: Biodiversity, Land, Energy, Water, Green Mountain College, Poultney. Mettowee Valley tour and Merck Farm & Forest Annual Meeting with Vermont Land Trust and conservation representatives.
Monday, June 15: Green Mountain College, Poultney. Greener Pasture Meats, Champlain Orchards, Kirk Webster Apiary.
Tuesday June 16 – Wednesday June 17: University of Vermont, Burlington. Vermont Food Systems Summit.
Thursday, June 18: Leadership for a Climate of Change in Regional and Global Food Systems, Middlebury College, Middlebury. Middlebury dining halls and farm; local brewery. Evening discussion: Pollinators panel, featuring Bill McKibben, Kirk Webster, and Helen Young.
Friday, June 19: Middlebury College, Middlebury, and Shelburne Farms, Shelburne. Sunrise Orchard Tour, Woodchuck Cider tasting. Lincoln Peak Winery, Shelburne Farms for farewell dinner.
The Vermont Food Systems Summer Study Tour is a project of the Vermont Higher Education Food Systems Consortium, which advances Vermont as the premier destination for the study of food systems. The Consortium is comprised of Green Mountain College, Middlebury College, New England Culinary Institute, Sterling College, University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and Vermont Technical College.
