2023 Annual Meeting

November 29, 2023

We had a blast at our 2023 Annual Meeting! You can catch up on all the ACORN news by watching the recording above! Thank you to V Smiley and Minifactory for hosting us. A HUGE thanks to our wonderful panelists, as well:

• Matt Bryan + Olivia Glascoe (Lower Notch Berry Farm)

• Silas Doyle-Burr (Last Resort Farm)

• AnnaJo Smith (Smith Family Farm)

• Spence Blackwell (Elmer Farm)

Cooperatively Healing our Watershed Homes

November 9, 2023

Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op and ACORN were thrilled to host Abe Collins of The Land Care Cooperative and special guest speaker Mercy Larson of Larson Farm.

The event was a wonderful opportunity our community to come together to educate and organize ourselves as we begin a new chapter of cooperation with our farming neighbors to engage in the work of growing topsoil, increasing biodiversity, increasing the water-holding capacity of our soils, increasing groundwater recharge, practicing economic democracy, and beginning the long journey of effectively healing our watershed homes.

Nightmare on Exchange Street

October 26, 2023

ACORN hosted a Halloween-themed launch of our new Farmer Climate Network! Best dressed went to the Foxglove Farm family of acorns! How cute are they!?

Complete with a taco bar, wellness bar, Fiddlehead on tap, masseuse and DJ, we welcomed growers, and their friends and family members, to kick back at the ACORN Food Hub to enjoy a few hours of relaxation time.

We also gathered feedback for winter and spring working bees. These half and full day projects will prove that old adage that many hands make light work! Thanks to funding from the Vermont Council on Rural Development for the seed money to start the Network and working bees.

If you are a grower and have additional ideas for winter and spring working bee projects, please email Lilah.

Cultivating Food Sovereignty through Community

May 16, 2023

We want to extend a big thank you to Addison Allies, the chefs of Viva el Sabor, the staff at 51 Main St, and the Middlebury College environmental studies seniors who helped us pull off a last-minute end of semester celebration on May 16!

Addison Allies and ACORN collaborated with a group of 8 Middlebury students on a senior capstone project that researched the continued development of the ACORN Food Hub and potential commercial community kitchen.

We decided (three weeks before the end of the semester) to host an event to connect the students' research with our wider community so we can begin to build community support for this growing project. You all turned out in spades, with over 120 folks registering and just under 100 attending, and for that, we thank YOU as well!

We plan to continue hosting events like these to keep you all informed of our progress and to make sure we're on track to creating an inclusive space that best serves our whole community. Stay tuned!

To learn more about the project, read Aria and Louisa's op-ed in the Addy Indy here.

The ACORN Food Hub Presents: Taste the Valley

January 10, 2023

Taste the Valley brought together local food producers and buyers interested in local products. Together, we enjoyed light local fare, connected with the local food community, sampled delicious products from Vermont’s Champlain Valley, and learned about the ACORN Food Hub.

Thank you to the producers and buyers that showed up to connect over and celebrate local food!