Produce Program

When I first heard the term “specialty crop,” I thought of niche specialty food products, such as elderberry jam, maple-flavored granola, and Vermont wine. I did not think of staple foods like potatoes and onions, nor did I expect that over half of the 6,808 Vermont farms counted in the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture grow specialty crops.

Do you need a hand washing station at your farm, orchard, farmers market, or other agritourism business?

Vermont Produce Safety Improvement Grants help Vermont produce growers implement on-farm food safety practices, transition to compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, and meet market demands for on-farm food safety.

When COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in March 2020, Kara and Ryan Fitzbeauchamp of Evening Song Farm made radical changes to their business: they canceled their farmers markets for the season, developed an online store, and adjusted their field maps to meet the demands of a larger volume of CSA sales.

Farmers building for the future, growing their businesses and keeping produce safety in mind. A Lamoille County couple shares their story.