Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: So there we go. Okay, good. Good, good, thank you for catching that, John. Well, why don't we start? We'll introduce ourselves, and then we'll go to you, and maybe you can have the room to introduce themselves. I'm David Durfee. I'm the chair of this committee, the Committee on Ag, Food Resiliency and Forestry, and I live in Shaftsbury and represent Shaftsbury and Glossenbury and Sunderland. Go around this way. John Bartholomew, vice chair, and I'm from Portland, also represent Windsor and West Windsor.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: I'm John O'Brien, I represent my hometown of Tunbridge and Royalton, the same district that Roselle McLaughlin, who had a

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: lot to do with from her school, representing three. Greg Burtt from Cabinet, representing Cabinet and Jed

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Lipsky represent Lamoille once, so.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: Thank you. I'm Kayla. I am the Farm to Institution Program Director at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. And I'm here on behalf of the Farm to School of Early Childhood Network. Before we get started with my testimony, which will kind of lay the groundwork, would you like us to go around the room and-

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah, if you don't mind.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: Olivia, would you like to start? Yeah, sure. School run.

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: My name's Olivia. I'm a

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: high school student at CVN.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Welcome.

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: My name

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: is Mollie S. Bartholomew, a high school student at CU.

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: My first action stepholes, I will put fun to school. Hi, I'm Beverly Bogat and I'm with the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance and my kids went to see you. I'm Carol Kent, School Nutrition Director currently for Mount Manstiel School District. Previously for a little while, North School District, we purchased lots of apples for Shepherd and it's great to be here. I'm Becca Karen, former Northeast Organic Farming Association. Kelsey Bauber, Assistant Director of Nutrition and Brattleboro. We do know that you own an operating farm and

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: cattle company, and Chelsea, if you want.

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: Tia Zug from the American Heart Association, not Credit Farms, just called the Big Fiat.

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: Ian Rose, the food service director for the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Windsor Southeast is?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: Windsor, Orland, Wittersfield, and Brownsville.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Okay, fine. Okay, good. Well, thank you, everybody. And why don't we go ahead then?

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here and share the impact of farm to school and early childhood programming and what it has to do with Vermonters. So this work supports schools, our farmers, our local food economy, and our communities. And we're here today to ask for level funding of two critical programs in FY twenty seven, the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants Program and the Local Foods Incentive, both at 500,000. Together, these programs connect young people with food systems education, Vermont agriculture, while simultaneously supporting farmers and food producers. So to offer a bit of context, the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network was created in 2008 in response to a growing movement of schools that wanted to serve local food in their cafeterias while using food and farming as an integrated education tool to support student learning and engagement. So this approach is reflected in our three C's model of change, the classroom, cafeteria, and community. And for long term impact, these three elements must be connected, and it creates a win win win for students, farmers, and families. I've seen the impact of farm to school firsthand. In my role, I work closely with school nutrition programs, a lot of which are in the room today, across the state to increase local food procurement, and while ensuring that these institutional markets also worked for Vermont farmers. And again and again, school nutrition professionals tell me that the connections they're building with local farmers, bakeries, and food businesses are made possible because of these programs. They are proud to support their neighbors and kids are growing up understanding what it means to be nourished by their communities. These programs are not just feeding students, they're shaping a generation that values local food, Vermont farmers, and strengthens our rural economy. So Vermont has invested in three cornerstone programs that work together to improve student health and learning while benefiting our agricultural economy. So first is the Rosa McLaughlin Farm to School in Early Childhood Grants Program, which was established in 2006 and had served more than 300 schools and early childhood programs in every county of the state. So it provides capacity building and technical assistance to help programs develop and strengthen their farm to school efforts. The second is the local foods incentive program, which supports increased local purchasing so that more of the approximate 25,000,000 that's spent on food in schools can stay here in Vermont. And over the past decade, local purchasing in schools has grown from 5% to 14 statewide, and more than 150 farms are now sell to schools in early childhood programs. And third is universal school meals, which ensures equitable access to meals for every student in every zip code. For many students, school meals provide nearly half of their daily calories, making access to nourishing food essential for health and learning and success. And I also want to note that today is school nutrition day in the State House, and many school nutrition professionals are here with us celebrating five years of universal school meals. And that's five years of ensuring that every student has access to food they need to learn, grow and thrive. So these three programs, the Farm to School Grants Program, the Local Food Incentive and Universal School Meals, work together as a virtuous cycle. Universal school meals and farm to school increase participation in meals, which improves program revenue, and that revenue allows schools to purchase more local food and prepare more scratch meals, which further increases participation and continues this cycle. So in previous years in this committee, our colleagues at the Agency of Education and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets have provided reports to this committee about the Global Food Incentive and the grants program. And while they're not here today, those reports will be ready later this winter, and we'd be happy to come back and share more details of last year's data. But today, you'll get the opportunity to hear directly from students, school nutrition professionals, farmers, and food producers about how these programs are making a difference on the ground. You'll hear the state investment in these programs truly matters. I also wanna thank representative Richard Nelson, who's not in the room right now, but for recognizing us on the house floor this morning, inviting Senator Bobby Starr to join us as well. So I urge you to continue to support just thanked you.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Sure, you can repeat.

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: That's okay.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: Thank you to representative Richard Nelson for recognizing Farm to School and early childhood and school nutrition day on the House floor this morning. It's truly an honor. So I urge you to continue supporting these efforts of fund level funding of $500,000 for both the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants Program and the local foods incentive. As a network, our goal is to reach 30% local purchasing in schools by 2030. And to get there, we must continue investing in these programs that help schools afford access and integrate local foods. So thank you so much for your time and for your commitment to strengthening farm to school and early childhood efforts in Vermont. And we're happy to take questions after each speaker, or if you'd like to save them to the end, whichever is your preference.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Does anybody have a question right now? All right, good.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: I'd love to welcome our high school students to start off the testimony. Olivia and, you want to come up?

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: Would you like to come up together?

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Before you go, actually, maybe Just one quick question, Kayla. Can you just give us a quick history of the five years of the Universal School of Nursing? Because I know it came out of

[Rep. John O'Brien]: post COVID, and it was sort of a pilot for a year or two. And then we finally resubmitted a lot

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: of- Yeah, universal school meals happened at the federal level during COVID. And then in 2022, I believe, Sorry, that's why he was giving me a number. The state of Vermont issued or passed a bill and maybe one of my other colleagues at Hunger Free Vermont would be better equipped to share which law and bill that was. But so it started off as a federal pilot, and then we initiated it in the state in 2022.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: And because it counts all students and captures all the students that would have qualified, it cost us such little amount of money to take care of everybody. And senator Star, who started this, they've been doing it at their school in Troy for years before this started because they were just sick and tired of harassing people for school meal money, and they said, why do we do it? We have the ability to get everybody, and that's the right thing to do.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yeah, think it was 2022 when we passed, or maybe 2021, the pilot, the one year pilot program, and now we've had, we're well into, well it's been five years total.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: Because it was a, that year there was budget surplus, right? So I think we used some of that money. Yeah, and then we passed it, so it's in the budget.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yep, and then we re passed the bill three years ago. We used that as a starting point, but we reconfigured some things to make it stronger. And it was a bill that was actually introduced by two members of the house who weren't on the committee. And we did some work on it then to, I think, strengthen it. All right, well, good, thank you, Kayla.

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: Yes, love you.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Yvonne, do you want to come up? The both of you can come up to the other end there. And if you, I know you already said who you were, but for the record, you're at the table, if you could just introduce yourself.

[Olivia Stewart (Student, CVU)]: Hello, I'm Olivia Stewart.

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: I'm Yvonne Meissler. And thank you to everyone in the Senate Education Committee and House Education Committee for allowing us to testify. Again, my name is Yvonne Meissler. I live in Shelburne. I'm a leader of CBU's Farm to School Club with Olivia, as well as a student organizer of the annual FEAST Food, Education, and Sustainable Thinking Summit. I speak today on behalf of my communities at Farm to School. Together, we urge you to base fund for the Farm to School and Early Childhood grant program and the local food incentive program, at $500,000 Thanks to this funding, I've had the privilege of meeting so many extraordinary people. I learned lessons I never could have experienced in a classroom as well as had opportunities to experience Vermont from a completely new perspective. From to school has changed my life and shaped my high school experience, and I'm here to implore you to fund these programs so that I can continue to do the same for generations. Being born in New Jersey, I didn't grow up turning butter or milking cows, and I entered high school with a similar outlook. Farming was kind of boring to me. I put food on my plate and that was about it. And I regret to say that that outlook was and still is shared by many of my peers. But I do believe that farm to school programs have the power to change that. I don't know what came over me when I signed up for farm to school with Olivia that day freshman year. Maybe we wanted some fresh air or just some kind of the goats we have on campus, but it was the single best decision I've ever made in high school. Immediately, we were met with a full blown operation, greenhouses, garden beds, chickens, goats, and all the tomatoes we could eat. All of this, our coordinator explained, was made possible by state funding. The opportunities felt endless, and we left that day buzzing with ideas and friends we wanted to invite to the club. Fast forward to now, three and a half years later, so many of our ideas have become reality. Not only do we help to feed ourselves and raise awareness on where our food comes from, but over the years, we have recruited 30 new members, started our own farm stands selling summer produce and student art at the Shelburne Farmers Market. We've led workshops at NOFA conferences, hosted school wide events, and volunteered gleaning on other farms. That's just the tip of the iceberg. More importantly, farm to school has taught me and so many others the types of valuable life skills that are just as important, if not more than anything I'm learning in calculus. I've learned leadership, how to speak out and communicate effectively on Zoom and in person, how to manage a small business with the responsibilities that accompany doing so, especially when produce can be unpredictable, problem solving when the goats escape their enclosure at 10PM, how to keep kids engaged and teaching them the importance of shopping locally. I learned how to handle bees and what to do when you spill a gallon of honey, and so much more. What's more is that together, we have met our goals and expanded on them when that's realistic. And in doing so, I've formed some of my most valuable connections and met some of my best friends. It's given me direction for my future and an excitement for my present. I also have a big I have big hopes for the future of Farm to School. I believe that what we have here at my school and at so many others across Vermont is really special. And as a state, I think we have a responsibility to keep kindling that spark because I think it can be fanned into a flame that could spread beyond Vermont and reach other schools. Students like me and Olivia across the nation or even globally. Because I think fostering this type of interest and passion is really imperative for youth, especially in today's world. So all that being said, I call on you to support the continued base funding of $500,000 for each of the Vermont Farm to School and Early Education Grant Program and the Local Food Incentive Program. Thank you for everyone for allowing me to share, and I'm willing to take questions should you have them. Thank you.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Questions? Represented by Paul. What do you do when you spill a gallon of milk? First one Interesting. I'm just kidding. We

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: kind of freaked out a little bit. Just kind of took the paper towels and just scooped them up. I know what you can do.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Represent a vessel.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Yvonne, it's just like milk, you don't cry over

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: it. Yeah.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Great testimony for me. And I appreciate it, and As a farmer, it makes me feel good when I hear that young people are starting to learn where their food comes from, and it doesn't come from Styrofoam and Saran wrap at Hanover or Charles. Thank you for this. You're doing.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: O'Brien? Does the school have hives?

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: Yes, we do. We have a bunch. But we had an encounter with a bear this year, so we had to scale it back a little, but we're trying to get

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: back into it right now.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Electric fencing with high voltage lower impedance.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: See.

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: Let me get on it.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: How many students are So there's a club, a farm to school club. How many students are pretty steady?

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: We have about 30 right now, which is We're very proud of that because we bought it from just us two to 30 people. And then we have another club as well that expands off of that, which is slightly smaller.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Well, congratulations on building something. Thank you. All right, anything else that you wanted to add?

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: All set.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Well, then we'll send you back to seats on the side. Ian, are you?

[Rep. John O'Brien]: Hello?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: Thank you for inviting me to testify today and thank you for your support of Farm to School and Early Childhood in Vermont. The record, my name is Ian Rose. I am the food service director for Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union. Our food program serves four schools providing nutritious meals for 1,100 students each day. I'm here today to ask that you please support the farm to school and early childhood program and the local food incentive with a level funding based appropriation of $500,000 fiscal year 2027, and also to continue funding universal school meals through the education fund. These two programs together ensure that all children receive high quality meals at school and that we are supporting our agricultural families and businesses across the state. I grew up just outside of Boston and have been working in food service for the last thirty years. My family and I moved to Vermont to the Upper Valley ten years ago, and I've been working in my current role for two years. Through my professional journey, I've had the honor to work in a variety of establishments dedicated to showcasing the beauty and benefits of local food. This practice is carried over into my personal life for prioritizing food items sourced locally has become one of my core values as an individual partner and parent. The mission of our food team is to source products and craft menus that help put our students minds and bodies in a position to learn and grow as best as possible. In each of our kitchens, we emphasize scratch cooking, minimal processing, unrefined sugars, local meat, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. We are always looking for ways to improve the overall quality of our ingredients. Coming into my role as food service director, I wanted to make sure the values of local food, the value which I hold dearly, were not lost and it's the financial challenges and realities of a school meals program. As a parent of two school aged children, I was aware of the universal meals program. I was not aware, however, of the farm to school and early childhood program and the local food incentive and the benefits they bring to Vermont students. Without these programs, we would not have the resources to provide the local food items which enhance our students experience each and every day. Currently, am taking part in the Farm to School Leadership Academy. This program was designed to bring together leaders from all over the country who are committed to transforming food systems in schools. Coming out of a recent gathering, I felt the tremendous amount of gratitude for the policies, systems and values we have here in Vermont, values which are not universal across the entirety of our country. It is one thing to have farms producing beautiful food all around you. It's a whole different thing having systems in place to help those products find a way into our schools. The Farm to School and Early Childhood program helps schools to create the structures and build the partnerships we need to be able to bring farm fresh food into our schools and early childhood programs and offer it to students on a daily basis. These programs are the physical demonstration of good policy and practice. I wanna share some words which are not my own, but rather those of our parents, staff, and community members. Their connection to the farm to school and early childhood program exists on a deeply personal level, and they experience the direct impact every day. This is from one of our parents. I'm so grateful that our student supports our local farms and producers. Not only is important for our local economy, but it instills a value and appreciation in our students for the benefits of locally sourced food, reducing negative impacts on the environment, transparency, and what is used to grow our food, not to mention freshness and a lifelong habit for seasonally based produce. I feel a sense of pride as a community member in this value that our school system upholds. And I can see that same sense of pride come through in the preparation of meals by our incredible food service team. My kids are happy and appreciative of the meals that they get out of the school, and I have a peace of mind about what they are receiving. This is something that matters to our economy, our community, our environment, and the lifelong health and habits of our kids. This next comment is from one of our office administrators in Windsor. As someone who sits in clear view of our fresh fruit and veggie station, I can attest there's a steady stream of students throughout the day, all grade levels, coming daily to take advantage of this wonderful program. It is really great to see so many of them get excited about what fresh fruits and veggies we have each day. This is such a valuable program, providing healthy snack options to so many students, some of whom don't have access to these items at home or have never been introduced to them. Are not only providing healthy food options, we are also expanding the variety of food in which students are consuming. Hopefully, these habits will continue at home as students grow and make healthy food choices for themselves. Honestly, there aren't enough positive things I can say about this program. And this last one is also from one of our parents. My son Truman is autistic and non speaking, and fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the ways he most consistently says yes to the world. For Truman, food is communication and connection. When his school offers fresh local produce every day, he's not on the margins of the lunch room. He's participating in a shared community practice with food grown in the same Vermont soil we all call home. Supporting farm to school in early childhood and the local foods incentive in fiscal year twenty twenty seven is not only good nutrition and good agricultural policy, it's also a quiet daily form of inclusion for students like Truman. Please keep these programs strong. Thank you so much for your time here today, and for all the work you do every day to support our families and farmers. Thank you for listening to my testimony and considering the real impacts of the farm to school and early childhood program and the local foods incentive. Level funding base appropriation of $500,000 for fiscal year twenty twenty seven, as well as the continuation of the universal school meals through the education fund, means that we can continue this important work of nourishing children with foods grown and made right here in their own communities. Happy to answer any questions and share any information with any of you. Please let me know if there's anything I can do. Great, thank

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: you Ian. Thank you for sharing the stories. Yeah. Know, it's so important.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Yeah. Stan, thank you for that. Are you an independent or you're not part of the what used to be the Abby Group?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: We're not. We became self taught part of me being there. I believe it's five years ago.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Yeah.

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: Yeah.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Do you have any communication with those that are in the new group? You know, they're not about what used to be the Abby group, but do you have any communication with other food directors from different issues that are belong to the?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: We do. I mean, has a pretty good network where, you folks here sitting with us today, we do regular monthly sharing circles where we all kinda get a chance to share our share our strengths. We're definitely little if counted individually, but we have an economy of scale that I don't think it gets as fully utilized as it can, but it definitely is active and helpful quite a bit. Yeah, just the perspective alone that for me personally, that I walk away from from those meetings is invaluable. I can tell you when I reached out to our parents and teachers and community members for feedback, and it was very blanket, I'm coming here to meet, I would love to include your stuff. I cannot tell you how many responses I got. Within like thirty minutes, it was probably two dozen. Well written, really thoughtful. I mean, I know these things are valuable. Again, I'm a parent, and I feel the impact directly. This was one of those ones where like, it was just like, it was over. I mean, it really just, and I could not tell them. It was, it warms you when you have that. You people telling you so passionately how deeply this these programs impact them.

[Rep. John L. Bartholomew (Vice Chair)]: Representative Bartholomew. I remember years ago, I had a professor offer me chocolate covered ants. He pointed out that food is what your parents fed you, and my parents didn't feed me ants. I'm just curious, when you have students who have only really encountered how do they react to the fresh foods? Are they is it mixed or universally embraced? Take getting you how does it how does that work in in practice?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: A good answer for that is we there's a a a federal program called the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which we rolled out this year, And it's designed to provide just fresh fruit and vegetables for kids in between meals. And we basically set up almost like a farm stands of self-service bridges in our schools. And I mean, the amount of participation that happens with that, the amount of produce that we go through is mind blowing. And I knew it would be positive, but I've grown up eating this way for my entire life. I'd like to say that I was working in farm to tables restaurants before that phrase existed. This has been part of my life forever. So I don't need to be told the value of those things, but seeing how many types of heirloom apples kids go through and how many different little veggies that we put out every single day and how it shifted away from because they would find their way to the main offices and they would have bags of Goldfish and things like that, how that has just changed dramatically. It's been a paradigm shift that they used to go to those process things and now they're eating whole foods. And that you have kids who just engaging with a whole food is a new thing. And I'm very happy to see that. I'm also sad that that is a reality, but it's been game changing. And to answer your question, there really hasn't been resistance. It was almost keeping up has been the harder part more so than convincing them of the value.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Which I've never done so. No, no, not

[Rep. John O'Brien]: yet. Representative Bartholomew.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: Yeah. So I think you're

[Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun]: the only nutrition director that's testifying today. And so I have a question for you. I believe California and there may be other states passed legislation to prohibit ultra processed foods from being part of school menus. And I'm wondering what you think about that, because I actually was thinking about introducing legislation and my chair said I should talk to some directors. So what do you think?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: I think it's a great idea. Think those are the ways in which government is effective for us. I don't mind it when rules are handed down, because then my job is to follow them. It's almost parameters like to say, if you put me in a room with walls that are six feet wide, it's really easy to make a decision. If they're 100 feet wide, it's going take me a lot longer. So, those are the kinds of things that force change. Because what happens for us is there are more products available that California would not want than ones that we want to have. But when it becomes a law, our vendors and distributors, they have to change. And so then they remove the products that we previously had. So if kid's like, Why can't you get this anymore? It's like, We literally can't. But then ideally, they replace those things with things that fall more into where we want them to be, things that are less I 100% agree with that. It's helpful for us having to answer questions about why we're making these decisions when it's done from a certain point, because then we are doing what we're told.

[Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun]: I'm gonna send the legislation in about

[Yvonne Meissler (Student, CVU)]: that today.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Not too late to

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: do a short form bill.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Representative Lipsky.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Yeah. Ian, thank you. You brought up a point, there's some members of the committee that maybe haven't had the honor and input from Harley Sterling, who from my recollection, his spirit came under his leadership, had the highest percentage of food consumed in his school, of any school district, and the Mollie North was quite high as well, and it was in the 32 or 34%. Again, that's three year old testimony. How are you doing in that race to the top? And it was a goal of this committee to to see expand the participation and consumption of locally produced food?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: Do you mean just percentage of students doing breakfast and lunch?

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: No. Yeah. So

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: we did So the last year we were at 25%, which in terms of the LFI fund is the highest mark on that. It was 15 a year before. That was sort of what existed when I got there. And Mikayla was amazingly helpful with us getting the grant part done. The one takeaway that I had from communicating with my colleagues was that it was challenging to get to that point. I didn't find that to be the case. Think there's creative ways to do it. Realities, right? We're gonna use the USDA products because they're given to us. But like Charlie and I were talking about, Monday is chicken day. Every school you go to, it's because you're starting from scratch. But I might have a processed breaded chicken on there, but the potatoes that you're getting are organic ones from Vermont and you know, or small firm ones from, like, Massachusetts or something. A place where you can go and put your hands in the dirt. That's the balance. It's it's not exactly a high wire act. It has elements where it's like that. It could be done. And I think you have to be driving around getting these things from all these little farms. It doesn't have to be difficult like that. When we have support from you all with rules and legislation that force those changes at that level above us, which would be procurement, which would be our vendors, it makes things easier. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Harley, one of the things he mentioned to me when we first met was, if it's a grilled cheese and pollen in a grilled cheese, these are kids. Let's serve them kid food. But for us, switching from a liquid margarine and a plastic thing to using real butter was a big deal. And my understanding is you have to do well in order to do good. My first goal was getting us under budget. Prior to me being there, the five years since it became self op, it hadn't been. So that's a number one goal. We're going to get there while still purchasing probably the high watermark of those things. It allows us to make a decision like we're going to use olive oil now and expeller pressed, non GMO canola as our two things. And I'm not going tell anybody about it. The kid body will know. And that's the stuff that if we're saving money on certain things that we should be spending, whatever else we have on. Those are the decisions that make a big difference.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Thank you. You.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: Representative, do certain programs like Junior Iron Chef fall under farm to school?

[Ian Rose (Food Service Director, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union)]: They sure can. Long as it depends what you're doing. I mean, if it's something where if it's just a class per se, it doesn't lead to like a food product that's gonna serve to anybody. The school can appropriate the funding for it, and we can execute it. They would have to buy the food product, like the food program couldn't pay for it. But we do have ones where they do a lot of sort of like leadership programs for like our eighth grade students. They have to have a certain number of community service hours, is they'll come in and they'll serve food, which is awesome because they're getting a little bit of work under their belt. When you see peers serving peers, it's just a really neat thing that happens there. And they get to have some involvement with those kinds of things. I think we can do more than that. That's sort of a next year goal for me personally, just kind of still getting my feet underneath me. But the more kids you can get connected to that, seeing how things go from a giant case on the back door to something on a tray, I've been in this for thirty years. Value is huge for me. This is a trade that will exist forever and ever and ever, and more kids that never mind the fact of knowing how food really functions, but getting a sense of how that system works. Hugely valuable.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: I'm gonna keep us moving here so I that we have a chance did just want to say thank you for coming in and to reiterate that when we were working on the Universal school meals bill originally three years ago, we did it was very helpful to have the testimony of nutrition directors and school food directors. In fact, we couldn't have done it really, I think, without because that that made the case so much easier to sell to our colleagues. You. Thank you. And, Emily.

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'm sorry, I'm getting over a cold. My name is Emilie Dumont. I live and farm in Chelsea, Vermont, where I own and operate Dumont Farm and Cattle Company. I am a regenerative beef farmer raising grass fed and grassed finished beef. And I'm also a registered nurse. Prior to farming full time, I worked for two years as a middle school nurse in the First Ranch Unified School District. And I was invited to speak today because of my involvement selling locally raised beef directly to Heartland Elementary School. And that relationship exists because of programs like Farm to School and Early Childhood and the local food incentives make it possible for schools to purchase food from local farms like mine. The Farm to School and Early Childhood program is the critical connector between locally raised food and school meal programs. It helps schools build the systems and partnerships needed to bring local food into cafeterias consistently, and it gives farmers the confidence to invest in producing food specifically for schools. The ability to sell beef locally to a school like Heartland Elementary creates real stability for my farm. It allows me to plan production, manage costs and keep food dollars circulating in the local economy. These programs don't just support farmers, they create reliable, transparent supply chains that benefit schools, students and the entire communities. The beef I raise is grass fed and grass finished, produced using regenerative grazing practices that improve soil health, protects water quality and build resilience to climate extremes. This is not industrial beef. This is nutrient dense, responsibly raised protein that reflects values Vermont cares deeply about: land stewardship, animal welfare and community health. But farm to school isn't just about where food comes from. It's also about how children feel in their bodies during the school day and whether they are able to fully engage in learning. When schools are supported in serving fresh local food, it directly supports student health, attendance, and educational outcomes. As a school nurse, I observed the impact of food choices from the clinical side, not just the farming side. I saw a clear correlation between what students ate and how they felt afterward: their energy, focus and mood and overall ability to learn. This is especially evident in students living with type one diabetes. With blood glucose levels I monitored throughout the school day. Despite experiencing extreme lows, students did not want to leave the classroom. They wanted to stay with their peers and keep learning. In those moments, you could often find me standing outside the classroom doors, gripping emergency medications in my hand, ready to help stabilize a blood sugar level when the body could not do so quickly enough with food alone. I also worked with students whose blood sugars were highly lethal, quick highs followed by quick downs or rapid swings throughout the day. When that happens, learning becomes incredibly difficult. Students may be sitting at their desks, but their bodies are working hard just to be stable. When blood sugars could not be regulated with nutrients on board, I had to intervene so they could safely return to learning. Each of those moments meant lost instructional times, time spent in the nurse's office, lessons interrupted, assessments missed, or students physically present but not truly available for learning because they were symptomatic, distracted, fatigued, or unwell. Over time, those losses add up. What I saw again and again was that stable, well balanced meals, particularly meals that included quality protein, supported more stable blood sugars. That stability meant fewer interruptions, fewer emergencies, and more time where students could simply be students and focus on learning. The stability matters medically, academically, and emotionally. Programs like Farm to School and Early Childhood and Local Food Incentive strengthen Vermont's local food system, create stable markets for farmers, and ensure that children have access to real, nourishing food. As we're facing increasing uncertainty from climate challenges to rising costs, these programs provide stability for both schools and farms. They are investments smart, in health, education, and local economies. Given the tremendous benefit to Vermont's schools, students, and farmers, I respectfully ask that you support the Farm to School and Early Childhood program with level funding at a base appropriation of $500,000 for fiscal year twenty seven, and also support the local food incentive program with a level funding base appropriation of $500,000 for fiscal year twenty seven. Thank you for your time and your continued support of Amman's children, and communities.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Thank you, Emily. Before taking any questions, representative Bos-Lun, I just had a message asking if you would come down to the appropriations committee. Good Lord.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Shame be to you.

[Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun]: About the climate

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: at At 60. Yeah.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: All right. Thank you.

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: Thank you for your time, Tara. Sorry, I couldn't hear from the

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: If the committee has any questions before we let you go. I just have one. Representative Burtt. What breed of gowns?

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: I started off with an Angus base and I switched to Murray Gray because I can produce an animal breastfed in ten months sooner to my ideal weight. I can produce an animal in twenty months now instead of thirty. So better for the climate and it's a more consistent product and tender too.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: I know First Branch had got some chickens, which was, I thought, great and somewhat unusual. I wondered if maybe you or people in this room knew how many schools in Vermont actually grow some food, whether it's bees or chickens or school gardens?

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: We don't have that information. During my time at the school, there were definitely programs that came in to help start those programs within the school. And the principal, Janet Cash, had, I think, been working towards that. So I don't have the number, but I know it's something that school district is ideally working towards.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: We actually have a statistic that we got in our evaluation last year that 81% of Vermont schools have educational burdens.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Have burdens. All right, thank you very much.

[Emilie Dumont (Dumont Farm & Cattle Company; Registered Nurse)]: Thank you all.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: And then I think we're just gonna, well, maybe not close things out, but Randy, if you wanna join us next.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Thank you,

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: I'm Randy George from Red Hen Baking Company. I As mentioned earlier, my wife and I started our business in 1999, five miles up the road here, and I appreciate this opportunity. We're here, of course, to ask you for your support for level funding of two critical programs in fiscal year twenty twenty seven, farm to school and early childhood grants program and the local foods incentive both at $500,000. One of the unexpected joys of running our business over the last twenty years, which is about how long we've been selling bread to our local schools, been the opportunity to bake bread for these schools. We see this work as much more than just selling bread to another customer. The rest of our customers are stores and restaurants throughout Vermont. We all know how important good nutrition is to learning because good food feeds the mind as well as the body, previous speaker explained. But what has been most inspiring to me are the ways in which Vermont Vermont's farm to school the Vermont Farm to School mission extends well beyond simply getting local food into the food service programs at schools throughout the state. Farm to school views their work as integral to the education that our schools offer. I have observed the transformations that can happen when students of all ages learn about where their foods food comes from. Frankly, issues relating to food and agriculture can be explored through the lens of any academic subject. For many students who attend schools where farm to school has been present from elementary through high school, an interest in food has become central to their high school experience and beyond. We're now seeing the effect of having a whole generation of students who've grown up with a better understanding of where their food comes from. Many of these young people will be going on to work in food related work. To borrow a phrase from Wendell Berry, all of them, no matter what their career path, will forever view eating as an agricultural act. So we're proud that at Red Hen for nearly two decades, a few 100 servings of our special school bread that we developed, particularly for schools when the Obama administration, created rules around, grains specifically in schools. That bread has been on is a weekly feature of the menu at Harwood, our local schools the Harwood School District in general, including the high school and the elementary schools. So not only does this round out a great meal, but the students learn that more than half of the wheat in this bread was actually grown in Vermont. So we have the opportunity to explain to kids of all ages what it takes to grow wheat in this state and how that wheat makes it from the farmer's field to the bread that their sandwich is made on. This year, we look forward to expanding our offerings of school bread. Through a grant that Farm to School received, we will be purchasing new equipment that will allow us to make more varieties of bread specifically formulated for school food service. This was developed we we identified the need through a survey that Kayla and her her team put together and spoke to many different food service directors and and found that there's there's even more interest than we're able to more demand than we're currently able to satisfy for for local bread. So through this kind of support as well as the continual funding at the state level, Vermont will continue to lead the way in educating our future generations of eaters. Thank you.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: How many school counts do

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: you have? We have the Harwood District and all the associated schools. And then we also work with Montpelier and Youth thirty two.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: And you just said that there's greater demand than you could satisfy.

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: Yeah, it's partly different products. And it's also that some of the school food service directors that were surveyed had interest in things that we can't currently offer just because of equipment limitations.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Brilliant, Lipsky.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Yeah. Randy, thank you. I get more education than two decades of nutrition when I go into your door down. Okay. And particularly on the grains when every label lets you know what farm or what county up in Danville or wherever it's going. Great. But my question really has to do with the rumors out there that Red Hen may be closing

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: that public space. Oh, we're not gonna close the public space. No. Part of the grant works for us because we are working on moving to a larger location that will allow us the space to have the equipment that the grant is funding. We'll still have a cafe. We'll just be once it all gets done, which will be close to the better part

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: of this

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: year We'll still have You can still go in and learn about brains

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: and all that.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: When you started to ask a question, I started to panic. But then I guess I did mention something. Are you moving next door possibly?

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: It's almost next door. It's half a mile.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: Half a mile.

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: Yeah. But I have to say it was amazing what she was your predecessor, Lauren, I guess. Who was in the position that Kayla's in now, approached me because of this grant opportunity, and the timing happened to be right because of this move that we're making. But when does that ever happen? That somebody says, I think there's some money that we can make available for this.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Other questions? Representative O'Brien? What are some

[Rep. John O'Brien]: of the farms where you get your grains from?

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: The Vermont farms that we get, that we work with, it's one now, and had been another farm in Greensboro growing rye, but he's no longer doing it. Was Todd Hardy. And Joe Hescock from Lesion Fields, he's a dairy farm, and he's in Shoreham. And when we bought for many years from Ben Gleason, who's since retired, bought wheat from him, as his business developed, he started buying from Joe, who works grains nicely into his rotation. On as you know he's primarily a dairy farm, but he really enjoys growing grains. He likes what it does for his crop rotations, feeds some of it to his cows, but really likes growing it for human consumption as well. So currently that's the one Vermont farm that we are buying grain from, and the other ones that we work with, and really almost like only a very small fraction of our grain is bought from anyone other than the three different sources that we work with. The first one being Joe Hascock, then one in New York and one in Quebec.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: So you can grow weed around here?

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: You can grow weed around here, and that's actually that's one of the other really wonderful things that I never would have expected we'd learn about in opening a bakery in Vermont, is that there's a lot of interest in that, and I've had the opportunity to work a lot with Doctor. Heather Darby from UVM Extension, and she's done a ton of research into growing grains. Jack Lazer and Heather started the Northern Grain Growers Collaborative, which I'm involved with. So yeah, that's something that's really been an important part of our whole journey. And to be able to introduce that to the schools is really exciting. We've had school groups come through many times. And, you know, this isn't just because people are out of touch with their food, but in Vermont, it's pretty unusual to even know what wheat looks like. So to show them that, and we have a mill that we use at the bakery specifically for that whole wheat that goes into the school bread, bread, so we can show them how that process works.

[Rep. John O'Brien]: Great. A little trick for us.

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: You're welcome. You're welcome to come.

[Rep. Jed Lipsky (Clerk)]: Warm bread and butter.

[Rep. Richard Nelson (Ranking Member)]: You thinking that's bad, Danny? I mean, not some of this school.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: I don't get it.

[Randy George (Co‑owner, Red Hen Baking Company)]: We'll work on that. Your support. Thank you.

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: Thank you for your testimony and for the reassurance that business is not going anywhere or at least not far. I think unless you had anything to wrap up with, Kayla.

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: I don't have anything formal to wrap up with, but I'd love to have Carol maybe come up

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: with

[Kayla (Farm to Institution Program Director, NOFA-VT)]: her Sorry. Close out that way.

[Carol Kent (School Nutrition Director, Mount Mansfield School District)]: Your handpuffs for nutrition, you've got spring and snacks. A little story goes along with this. We have a farmer, my friend Andrews. We had a farm, Bone Mountain Farm in West Bolton. And I'm gonna hand this out off the top. Spare So some time to use our telephone weapons. Our Tucker's barn was completely wiped out by the flooding. It became beachfront property. He's still waiting to get back into his home with his family. But in the meantime, Tucker partnered with another farm in Jericho, the farm upstream, and they've been growing squash and pumpkins. We purchased squash from that farm. And interestingly, Tucker, did you carefully? I'm sure. Tucker grows long pine pumpkins for the seed, for high moly seed company. When they harvest the seeds from these pumpkins, they would ordinarily compost the rest of the pumpkins. So we partnered with Tucker and Bone Mountain Farm with these pumpkins. And last year we began and this year we continued. And we got a group together of volunteers and we took the pumpkin shells that had been seeded and we processed them. So we were able to put up 300 pounds of pumpkin mash in our freezers for all of our schools to use throughout the year. And it's just another demonstration of how these partnerships with our farmers can lead us in different directions. We partner with Salvation Farms up in Hardwick, who are taking gleaned and surplus produce from farms, and they're processing it into a frozen form for schools and institutions to use. And so just recently, we received our first delivery of corn on the cob, Vermont corn on the cob frozen, and also shredded zucchini frozen that's grown and raised in Vermont. It was surplus. And those are items we're going to be testing and using in our schools. And we're purchasing this. We're paying a fair price for these products. They're a surplus. So they're buying it from the farmers. We're buying it from them. So there's a lot of different opportunities available to schools. I hope you enjoy your muffins, a little token of Thank fresh from the

[Rep. David Durfee (Chair)]: you for sharing that story about the pumpkin seed too.