Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE)

Inspired by the longstanding Pies for the People event in Hardwick, we're calling on our neighbors and friends to join us in Barton and make pies for elders in greater Barton and Glover. Build baking experience, share skills together, and have fun making homemade apple and pumpkin pies. Contact CAE Food Sovereignty Organizer, Allyson Howell, to learn more or get involved: allyson@caevt.org Barton Pies for the People Barton Hub (Barton Memorial Hall) 19 Village Sq, Barton 05822 November 6th, 11am-1pm November 20th, 10am-1pm

This fall, the Just Cut team processed a few large batches of green, yellow, and orange peppers from Honey Field Farm into frozen bulk and retail sized packaging. Just Cut is excited about adding these limited-batch frozen items to our product line and the University of Vermont Medical Center is excited to add local green peppers to soups! If you'd like to add these to your k-12 school, hospital, higher ed. dining menus, or CSA reach out to Just Cut: justcut@caevt.org Photo 1: One pound packages of yellow and orange 1/2" diced carrots headed to Farmers to You. Photo 2: A mountain of peppers ready to bag. Photo 3: Just Cut Team Leader, Josh Peets, proudly holding up finished product. Photos by Chandra Blackmer.

🥧 It's that time of year again! 🥧 Pies for People is a community baking initiative, calling on families, individuals, businesses, and groups of all sorts to bake pies for the Hardwick Area Food Pantry's Thanksgiving food boxes to make the holidays a little brighter for our neighbors facing food insecurity. Our goal is 300 pies this year! 🥧 Learn more more and sign up at https://lnkd.in/eDWRfyp5 🥧 Pies for People is made possible through partnership between the Hardwick Area Food Pantry and the Center for an Agricultural Economy. We are so much stronger when we work together!

We used our first crop of apples from the Atkins Field community orchard for pressing cider at the Open House last weekend! The cider was delicious, and we love having this communal resource to share.

We were honored to invite the community to our three locations this past weekend for a public grand opening of the brand-new Food Hub and a 20th Anniversary celebration featuring activities at Atkins Field and tours of the Vermont Food Venture Center and Food Hub. Thank you to everyone who came out and everyone who helped make the day an event to remember! An event like this is a huge undertaking. Thank you to the Vermont Food Venture Center clients who provided samples of their Hardwick-made products (Just Cut, Mama Tree Farm, Mighty Mudita, Vermont Mountain Elderberry, and Green Mountain Peanut Butter), to Jasper Hill Farm, Cabot Creamery, and Elmore Mountain Bread for providing the delicious appetizer spread, and a HUGE shout out to Rural Community Transportation for providing shuttles between the locations. Finally, thanks to the staff and board of CAE for your help to make this celebration a reality.

Over the past few years CAE has had the privilege of working videographer Elizabeth Rossano to tell our story through image and story. Over the past year, we have shared stories about our Just Cut and Community Connections programs. Today we are pleased to debut Supporting the Food Web: Farm & Food Business Resources at the Center for an Agricultural economy. The film highlights business advising at CAE. Follow Farm and Food Business Specialist, Daniel Keeney, and local hop farmers, Whitefield Hopyard, to learn more about how CAE supports farmers and food businesses. https://loom.ly/PtvcV9o

CAE's 20th Anniversary open house is SATURDAY!!! We hope you can join us. 🥕 This year, CAE is marking its 20th birthday! Join us for a celebration of this milestone anniversary on Saturday, October 5th, when CAE will hold open houses at all 3 of its facilities in Hardwick! The public is invited to come learn about CAE's work supporting local agriculture, Vermont food businesses, and the community. Please park at Atkins Field and take the FREE Rural Community Transportation shuttle to each location. Then join CAE at our new Food Hub at 5pm for a Grand Welcoming to the new facility and a celebration of 20 years of CAE! More info at www.caevt.org/fun

Hiring Immediately: Warehouse Assistant! Join our Farm Connex team, CAE’s dynamic and expansive distribution program. We provide cold-chain freight service for farmers and food producers who may be “too small” or “too rural” to access other distribution channels, operating 6 days a week, with a fleet of 5 delivery vehicles in service to 21+ routes, aggregating and delivering local products in 13 of 14 Vermont counties and some of Western NH. This position assists the Warehouse Coordinator, Farm Connex delivery drivers and the Food Hub Operations Manager in inventory aggregation, compliance, sanitation and maintenance. This is a full time position of 32-40 hours a week, starting wage of $22.00/ hour. As this position requires driving, applicants must meet minimum qualifications as a driver. Application deadline is October 6. Check out the full job posting and how to apply at www.caevt.org/jobs

This fall, CAE is excited to collaborate with the Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) and the Vermont Specialty Food Association (VSFA) to offer three one-hour online classes geared towards business owners and operators. Participants will spend one hour learning from leaders in Vermont's business and marketing sector about a variety of topics. Register via links in bio or through https://loom.ly/-QSYye4 Center for Women & Enterprise Vermont Specialty Food Association Vermont Employee Ownership Center Ruthless & Wellington

This summer a handful of CAE staff, including the Just Cut team, took to the streets and visited several businesses in the Mad River Valley that CAE works with through Just Cut, Farm Connex, and the Vermont Farm Fund. We visited and toured Vermont Bean Crafters where we learned about their operations and work with institutions and retail customers, 5th Quarter Butchery and Charcuterie at the Mad River Taste Place, a business that Farm Connex works with, and Clearfield Farm, a good faith agreement farmer who has carrots he is growing for some of Just Cut's winter produce needs. @VermontBeanCrafters @5thquarterbutchery #ClearfieldFarm @MadRiverTaste Photo 1: CAE staff with Joe Bosson, owner of Vermont Bean Crafters Photo 2: Freshly Made Hot Dogs and Sausages at 5th Quarter Butchery and Charcuterie Photo 3: CAE staff in Newly Planted Carrot Field