Vermont presenters outline Farm to Plate Investment Program, funding mix and institutional procurement barriers

Jake Claro, director of Farm to Plate at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, told a legislative committee that the Farm to Plate Investment Program is established in state law and guides a new 10‑year strategic plan for Vermont’s agriculture and food system. "The investment program is in Vermont statute. So you can find it, title 10, in subsection 330," Claro said, introducing an overview of the program’s goals, structure and recent outcomes.

The presenters said the plan — a statewide, stakeholder-driven blueprint first enacted in 2009 and reauthorized in 2019 — links economic development, jobs, climate resiliency and food access. "We are in the 2nd 10‑year phase of having a food system plan here in Vermont," Ellen Taylor, executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, said during the briefing, adding that the updated plan explicitly includes environmental and climate‑resiliency goals in addition to the program’s long‑standing economic and food‑access objectives.

Nut graf: The Farm to Plate Investment Program combines a legislated mandate, a network of private‑sector and public contributors, and multiple funding streams to support processing, distribution and other food‑system investments across Vermont. Presenters told lawmakers the plan is intended to guide state and federal spending, inform working‑lands grants…