The overarching 2021 Future of Agriculture Commission Plan priorities include a commitment to these four themes:
- All Vermonters benefit from healthy nutritious food and a robust local food system
- Vermont fuels agricultural business entrepreneurship, growth, and sustainability, so that food producers and businesses are profitable across a range of sizes, stages, and business models
- Vermont attracts and supports the next generation of farmers
- Vermont strengthens and supports its brand
The key strategies from the 2021 Future of VT Agriculture Commission Plan that were explicitly articulated in the Governor’s FY23 proposed budget include the following investments:
- $200,000 for NOFA-VT food security and farm viability programs
- $1.5M to Vermont Foodbank’s Vermonters Feeding Vermonters local food assistance program
- $675,000 to support the K-12 school’s Local Food Incentive Program (school grants and position) at Agency of Education
- $50M to ACCD’s Capital Investment Grant program for infrastructure projects
- $20M to ACCD for establishing the Business Assistance Program offering forgivable loans
- Increase annual base allocation for the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative by $406,000 (making new base $1M annually) at VAAFM
- $1M to support ongoing Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group, including research and pilot program funding
- $5M to support VAAFM to expand agronomic practices and program support to focus on climate change mitigation
- $100,000 to VAAFM to conduct a Vermont brand assessment with goal of further increasing awareness of our state’s unique brand.
Visit the Future of Vermont Agriculture Commission webpage to learn more about the Commission and to download the 2021 Plan and other materials.