State to take own 'Buy Local' advice
Toolbox
By DAPHNE LARKIN Staff Writer - Published: November 11, 2007
MONTPELIER – The state has been pushing consumers to purchase food from Vermont growers for the last four years through its "Buy Local" campaign, and now it's looking for ways to take its own advice.
According to a Nov. 1 report, the state exceeds its "Buy Local" standard of 10 percent of food dollars for state institutions going to local products, but state agencies believe they can do better.
"The trend over the last few years is we're just trying to encourage consumers to buy local products. It helps the local economy and consumers know where the food comes from and support neighbors," said Anson Tebbetts, deputy secretary of agriculture. "Step two is to encourage bigger buyers, like institutions – colleges, state government – to work closely with farmers."
The report, a mandate of Act 38, which addresses the viability of Vermont agriculture, recommends ways to create a more accessible market for local food producers like 68-year-old East Hardwick beef farmer, Helmut Notterman, of Snug Valley Farm.
"The Frozen Butcher," as Notterman is known at farmers markets across central Vermont, made an attempt to sell his beef to the Statehouse cafeteria but eventually gave up because of a lack of response.
Notterman said he, along with other local food producers, presented his beef products in 2003 to Statehouse cafeteria management and staff and talked to them about what he does and how he does it. Notterman left samples of his beef and "never heard a word."
That experience prompted Notterman to create a survey he sent out in 2005 and again in 2007 to legislators asking them about their awareness of locally produced foods in the Statehouse cafeteria. Notterman said the results of his 2007 survey were more encouraging than the first, and that data indicated people were noticing local food products in the cafeteria more than they were before. Still, he remains frustrated.
"I sent copies of that survey to everybody that responded (in 2005) and everybody in the Agency of Agriculture, and you know what? The silence was absolutely deafening," he said. "I understand that everybody's on a budget but if they're going to promote Vermont food they should start at home."
State officials agree that they could do more to learn about how farmers operate and how they can make the bidding process more accessible to farmers.
Recommendations illustrated in the report to facilitate communication between farmers and vendors include: hosting a one-day training session for institutional purchasers, farmers and distributors; developing follow-up trainings and linking state institutions with farmers for pre-season planning.
One issue might be the state bidding process and whether it's in line with farmers' planning, said Robin Orr, director of purchasing and contract administration for the state. The vendor fair could be a way of getting "the people who are doing the buying talking to the farmers in advance to tell them what they need to set up a successful bid," she said. "(Because) if the bid process starts too late a small farmer might have been able to develop that capacity but those decisions have already been made."
The cafeteria at the Statehouse was recently taken over by the Abbey Group, a Sheldon food service company, that says it does its best to incorporate locally produced foods but cites such issues as communication, availability, transportation of foods and a lack of standardized billings systems as getting in the way of that effort.
"You have to go out of your way to make these connections with these farmers," said Scott Choiniere, vice president of operations. "If I had somebody coming to my back door saying 'I'd like to sell you lettuce, tomatoes and onions.' I'd say 'yeah.'"
The Abbey Group cited approximately 60 local food producers they already do business with providing food services to schools and institutions in the state. Doing business with local farmers means getting out of the office and finding out what is available and then getting the food to the vendor, another major issue. ]
"The biggest thing for most people is getting the product to us, that's the biggest challenge," Choiniere said.
A report of strategies for increasing the amount of local foods purchased by government entities was presented to the joint agriculture committee on Nov. 1 and seeks to address issues raised both by local farmers who are frustrated with trying to sell to the state and vendors who would like to buy more food from food producers in the state.
Contact Daphne Larkin at (802) 479-0191 ext.1171 or daphne.larkin@timesargus.com.
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