One Meal, One Tree, One Farmer at a Time

This has been another record-breaking year for our planet.

Climate change is accelerating. The food system is overextended. The pandemic continues to ravage communities. Everywhere you look, people are suffering from the impacts of extreme weather events, income inequality, market disruption, racism, and disease.

In Vermont, we are not insulated from these global crises.

• As Earth had its fifth warmest June on record, temperatures in Vermont soared to new highs (and record-high lows).

• Food insecurity in Vermont remains well above pre-pandemic levels, and many families are just beginning to realize the long-term economic impacts of job disruption.

• Within Vermont's farming communities, news of Horizon’s exit underscores the turbulence of the dairy market and the need for Vermont farms to diversify and strengthen their businesses.

At the Intervale Center, we are facing these challenges head on with work that is systems-based, grounded in place, and focused on how to best return wealth to rural communities and protect our environment in a rapidly changing world.

If we’ve learned anything these last two years, it’s that the resources we put into our local food system, communities, and environment come back to us tenfold. And with your support, we are seizing new opportunities to grow our impact in a time of desperate and immediate need, while continuing our core program in support of farms, land and people.

In the past year, we have:

• Delivered 225,000+ meals through Grand Isle, Chittenden and Franklin Counties, reaching thousands of families, from single moms to elderly and homebound community members, as administrators of the Everyone Eats program.

• Provided 100+ farmers with direct business, financial and land access services, from a young farmer finding their dream land in Cambridge to a farmer with terminal cancer finding peace of mind through succession planning for their land and business.

• Planted 37,500+ trees and shrubs throughout Vermont, which translates to 150 acres of new forest and 400+ tons of additional carbon captured from Marshfield to Grand Isle.

• Provided critical leadership within statewide and regional networks that seek to grow successful farm businesses and food markets, address the root causes of hunger, and heal our environment while addressing climate impacts.

• And much more!

Yes, the challenges facing our planet can seem insurmountable.

But together, we are making a real and lasting difference across Vermont every day. Because of your support, we are improving farm viability, taking care of land and water resources, and connecting people with food and nature, both in the beloved Intervale, and across Vermont.

When you make a gift to the Intervale Center, you are supporting our innovative work so that we can remain the responsive organization you know and love.

Together we are building a resilient, community-centric food system that puts people and planet first and will sustain us in an ever-changing world.

You are the fuel that powers this essential work, one meal, one tree, one farmer at a time.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Sara, Christine, Hannah, Anthony, Christine, Lexie, Patrick, Bella, Taylor, Mandy, Kiana, Melanie, Nathan, Nikki, Travis, Kristen, Morgan, Duncan, Lynda, Reid, Sam, Tyler, Carolyn, Jonathan, Peter, Kathy, Katelyn, Allison, Lori, Margaret, Noelle, Eli, Joe, FM, Leslie, and Katharine.