Attend the Food Tank Summit in NYC on Oct 3rd!

Scholarships Available for Oct. 3rd Food Tank Summit in NYC

VFN PRESS RELEASE: Farmers, chefs, food producers and others working in Vermont agriculture are invited to apply to the second round of Vermont Fresh Network (VFN) Conference Scholarship Program grants. This round of funding supports participation in the Food Tank Issues Summit: Food Loss & Food Waste, happening in New York City on October 3rd.  Speakers at the summit this year include Marion Nestle, best-selling author and professor emeritus at New York University and Dan Barber, author, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, in addition to many other food systems leaders.

Food Tank is a nonprofit organization dedicated to offering environmentally sustainable solutions to global hunger, obesity, and poverty. They are well known for network building and bringing together leaders in this field to discuss concrete solutions. Their Issues Summits program focuses that purpose on one day gatherings across the country.

The VFN Conference Scholarship program helps chefs, farmers, food producers, and others working in our local food system attend important conferences beyond our region. Award recipients share what they’ve learned at the conferences back home in Vermont through an event or project of their choosing. These follow up projects also help raise funds for the next round of grants, contributing to the program's sustainability.

In July, Bill Cavanaugh (Mad River Food Hub) and Claire Georges (Butterfly Bakery of Vermont) received VFN scholarships to attend the Slow Food Nations conference in Denver, CO. Georges will be launching a new Slow Foods inspired hot sauce designed for food pairings at the VFN Annual Forum Dinner on August 5th. Cavanaugh is planning an event at the Mad River Taste Place for the fall.

Anyone interested in applying to the New York City Food Tank Summit can find details at VermontFresh.net - applications are due on Monday, August 13th. The grants cover event registration, lodging, and transportation. The recipient is selected by a committee of current VFN Partner Members.

For more information, please visit the Conference Program page at VermontFresh.net or contact our offices: info@vermontfresh.net or 802-434-2000.

This inaugural year of the Vermont Fresh Network Conference Program was made possible by funding from the Sustainable Future Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation, the Farm to Plate Investment Program at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, Chelsea Green Publishing, and several anonymous donations.