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Students, teachers and program managers urge $500,000 in base funding for Vermont Farm to School programs
Summary
Educators, students and the Agency of Education told the House Education Committee on Feb. 12 that two Farm to School programs support learning, local farms and school meals and urged the committee to fund each at $500,000 in base appropriations; testimony included program metrics and student stories but no committee action was taken.
On Feb. 12 the Vermont House Education Committee received testimony from educators, students and Agency of Education staff urging the committee to support the governor’s budget proposal to fund the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Grant Program and the Local Foods Incentive Program at base appropriations of $500,000 each.
The request came from Dana Hudson, coordinator of the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network (Shelburne Farms), who described the programs as a three-part strategy linking “the classroom, the cafeteria, and the community” to improve student health and support Vermont farmers. Hudson said, “We are asking you to support the governor's budget proposal for both the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Grant Program and the Local Food Incentive Program with a level of funding, base appropriations, of $500,000 each.”
Why it matters: witnesses said the grants increase local purchasing by schools, provide hands-on learning for students and keep school food dollars in the Vermont economy. Connor Lloyd, grant program manager at the Vermont Agency of Education, summarized the Local Foods Incentive’s structure and recent results: the program has a $500,000 annual appropriation; baseline grants include a 15-cent-per-lunch award to help schools start purchasing local foods; subsequent-year awards require at least 15% local purchasing and offer higher per-lunch incentives tied to 15%, 20% and 25% purchasing tiers.
Lloyd told the committee that subsequent-year grantees doubled from six to 12 in the latest reporting year and that the Agency distributed $384,818 in grant awards this cycle. He said the Agency estimates that for every $1 in grant funds provided to subsequent-year grantees, schools reported about $3 of additional Vermont local purchasing.
Students and teachers described classroom and cafeteria benefits. Aziza Malik, a fifth-grade teacher at Champlain Elementary and the 2024 Vermont State Teacher of the Year, said farm-to-school “turns learning into something real and relevant,” and asked the committee to hear from students. Fifth-graders recounted hands-on experiences: Shania O’Neal said her class “harvested potatoes, and we made homemade French fries,” and added, “When you know where your food comes from, you think about it differently.” Maddie Wagner described making drinks from garden-grown lemon balm and raspberries: “They taste better than candy. Seriously. And they're way healthier.” Ebrahim Mohammed said school meals made a practical difference: “I think all students deserve free, healthy, and local meals because no one should have to worry about being hungry at school.”
High school students described larger program impacts. Loretta Siebert, a senior at Montpelier High School, described greenhouses, beehives, cooking classes and community connections and asked the committee to “please support the Farm to School and Early Childhood [grant] with level funding based appropriation of $500,000 for fiscal year 2026” (a contemporaneous verbal slip briefly referenced $5,500,000 but she repeated the $500,000 figure in the same testimony). Yvonne Meisler, an 11th grader, described FEAST (Food, Education, and Sustainable Thinking), a student-led program that helped start a farm stand, provide peer education and build student leadership skills.
Committee members asked clarifying questions but there was no vote or formal action during the hearing. Lloyd said a third of Vermont’s school food authorities have not yet engaged with the Local Foods Incentive baseline grant and that Agency staff continue outreach. He noted that baseline-year awards have no purchasing requirement and that some schools apply only for that initial, noncommittal award.
No statutory citations or formal legislative amendments were presented during testimony. No committee direction or funding decision was made at the hearing; witnesses were invited to answer follow-up questions and committee members thanked the students before recess.
Ending: The committee took testimony and asked questions but did not act on a funding bill during the Feb. 12 session. Advocates said they will continue to press for the governor’s proposed base appropriations in subsequent budget deliberations.
