Farm to School

OVERVIEW

For years, students from Vergennes and other local schools have been visiting and volunteering in the Community Garden. Produce from the garden can be found on the menu at Vergennes Union High School’s cafeteria in the fall.  Walden students host an annual Local Foods Feast at the high school.  

Vergennes Union High School recently became one of the only high schools in the country to practice on-site composting. Walden Project ’11 student Marcy Langlais worked throughout her time at Walden to promote the composting project. The environmental club, led by VUHS Nutrition Liaison and former Willowell board member Lynne Rapoport, partnered last year with Middlebury College students Sam Koplinka-Loehr and Eleni Polychroniadou to plan and build the composting structure. Thanks to a grant from the College and support from school administrators, the Highfields Center for Composting and Willowell AmeriCorps members, VUHS started composting in fall 2012. The composting system needs ongoing community support. To get involved, please contact Willowell.

In 2010, 2011, and 2012, Willowell helped plan and host the Stone Soup Summit, Addison County’s Farm to School conference, organized by the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN).  Willowell is continually looking for opportunities to help students draw the link between what grows out of the ground and what they put into their bodies.