2021 Fair Share Program Recap

Volunteers gleaning chard at Intervale Community Farm

For those who are unfamiliar with our Fair Share program, it is a free food distribution program based at the Intervale Center and is available to low-income community members. The program runs from July 6th-November 1st. Produce for the Fair Share program is gleaned from local farms, many of which are located within the Intervale itself. Gleaning is the ancient practice of harvesting surplus food left in the field by farmers. The Fair Share is similar to a CSA, but would actually be better classified as an “ASC” – Agriculture Supporting Community. The program’s continued existence is a testimony to our local farmers’ commitment to supplying their neighbors with food! This season we worked regularly with Diggers Mirth Collective Farm, Intervale Community Farm, Pitchfork Farm, Jericho Settler’s Farm, Burnt Rock Farm, Adams Berry Farm, Philo Ridge Farm, Trillium Hill Farm – to name just a few.

Tables loaded with vegetables for our weekly Fair Share distribution in the Intervale Center’s Community Barn

Sunflowers available for picking in the People’s Garden!

Our goal with Fair Share is to cultivate a sense of abundance and nourishment. This year we partnered with Feeding Chittenden’s mobile pantry program who provided protein options and shelf-stable items each week. Everyone Eats supplied our members with a variety of delicious meals from local restaurants. Fair Share members also had access to the People’s Garden to pick their own fresh herbs, flowers, hot peppers, snap peas, tomatoes, scallions, and more. We spent lots of time thinking about how best to facilitate a space where multiple cultures, identities, and languages come together – a continuous work in progress! We were lucky to work with Ashok Rai, a Nepali translator from AALV. Ashok attended several of our Fair Share pickups and helped us to better understand the needs of the Nepalese families who are part of the program. In the future, we hope to increase our work with AALV translators to more fully connect with Fair Share members for whom English is a second language.

Produce for the Fair Share was gleaned each week by members of the Food Access team and volunteers from the community. We were so impressed by the dedication of our volunteers, many of whom came out time and time again to help us! We also utilized the People’s Farm, carefully tended by our colleague Nathan Lake, to grow veggies to supplement our gleaned produce. This year a dedicated group of 10 People’s Farm volunteer crew members showed up starting at 8 am every Monday to help harvest, wash, and pack produce for distribution. Below, People’s Farm crew member Ana is shown washing scallion bunches. Volunteers like Ana brought so much warmth, joy, and laughter to the growing season. The Fair Share program would not be possible without their help, and we are so grateful for them!

This year we explored a few new methods of distributing produce. In addition to our Fair Share program, we hosted a weekly pop-up at the O’Brien Community Center in partnership with the Winooski Community Library. Our setup was simple - a few tables, occasionally a tent if rain threatened, bins of vegetables, and the instruction to “take what you need, leave what you don’t.” While the Fair Share program is primarily centered around low-income community members who sign up in advance, at our Winooski distribution anybody was welcome to come and help themselves to produce with no questions asked. Combining these two models got food to our neighbors in a more holistic way, and also enabled us to reach those without access to transportation. We were gifted countless delicious food items, knitted hats and mittens, and lots of good conversation from the folks who stopped by. We formed relationships with so many lovely people this year, and we were frequently reminded of our community’s capacity for care and reciprocity!

Community members helping themselves to fresh produce at our weekly pop-up food distribution in Winooski

Written by Jill Brooks, Food Access Assistant