Minutes from Annual Meeting 2010

November 14, 2010

SFVT Annual Membership Meeting

Red Hen Bakery, Middlesex, VT

Present: Mara Welton, Sarah Strauss, Chris Howell, Gene Fialkoff, Linda Fialkoff, Joyce Cellars, Martha Franklin, Annie Harlow, Hugo Lara, Chris Wagner, Michelle Buswell, Joe Buswell, Mike Huber, Kate Turcotte, Yvonne Burnot

Introductions: Each person described why s/he is a part of SFVT or sees her/himself as becoming a part.

Sarah: sees SF as place to share her love of food as well as her wish to write about the many cookbooks that are being written about food here in Vermont

Hugo: loves idea of sharing food with people; learning about new foods; connection with the land

Gene: eating, growing, sharing food

Linda: came through Gene; enjoyed fabulous dinners with group of women; came to understand the depth and breadth of the movement; learned the term “food justice”; became a member today.

Mara: we can change words around the dining room table

Kate: cheese maker at Shelburne Farms; went to Terra Madre two years ago.

Chris Wagner: Burlington Farmers’ Market.

Annie: lives in Bristol; long history with food; entrepreneurial consulting; studied archeology and food history.

Mike: attended Slow Money conference; helps small businesses with marketing and accounting; has learned to eat more responsibly since moving to VT

Joe: Working with local producers to turn produce into wine

Michelle: instructor at NECI; came to SF through the students at NECI

Chris: described getting involved in SF in Italy; community means a lot to him; works on community garden; best way to travel is to meet and eat with people; now has this kind of business here in Vermont

Martha: chef instructor at NECI; grew up on farm in VT; finds that people are jealous of our work here in VT.

Pam: loves the idea of sharing food with old and new friends; of teaching people, including children, about the joys of eating and cooking.

Yvonne: moved here in 2007 to get involved in sustainable agriculture; her farm is south of Rutland

n Mara presented history of SFVT which is one year older than SFUSA; many leaders over the years.

She shared a slideshow of what has happened this past year with SFVT:

· New mission statement

· New logo; new website; blog; Facebook; Twitter

· Events:

o Tasting workshops at the Intervale Summer of Taste events; each Thursday evening during the summer.

o Potluck dinner: smoked foods; getting away from image of white table cloth, expensive dinners

o Dual membership drive with VFN

o Dig In! Worked with a community organization (Riverside Community Garden)

o Harvest Celebration Potluck: in conjunction with end of season celebration at the Intervale

o LCC tasting: We’ve created a partnership with LCC; focus on discussions of terroir.

o Terra Madre 2010:

§ 500 delegates/500 Americans/28 Vermonters/160 countries

§ Salone del Gusto: open to the world; get a pass as a Terra Madre delegate; thousands of foods to taste.

§ Street Food section

§ Manifestos

§ Carlo Petrini: raise people without voices so they can be heard: indigenous peoples; elders; women; farmers.

§ USA delegation meeting

§ Feedback from delegates:

· Joyce: wants to see Salone de Gusto in Vermont; Terra Madre in Washington, DC (Alice Waters)

· Gene: New Farms for New Americans; thru the Association for Africans in Vermont; working with the Intervale; Gene would like to become involved with this group and with food banks.

· Linda: this is an every day and lifelong commitment; sees her role as spreading the role; wants to work on the problem of hunger in Vermont.

· Kate: helped group at UVM become a SF chapter.

· Annie: food here is a business; bridging the valuation of food here in VT

· Pam: meeting people who are involved in a myriad of activities and events that focus on saving seeds, memories, etc. Wants to work on events that support people who are hungry while at the same time continuing to explore and enjoy taste.

· Chris: food mapping (Terra Madre 2006)

· Martha: being open to meeting people; making food available and affordable to all people; offered to do wine tasting; works on Mondays at food bank in Barre.

· Mara: reminds her why she does what she does on her farm; goal: how to bring experience back to VT; Terra Madre Day: December 10th; events are planned and will be posted on website.

· Katy and Claire are hosting event at Champlain Orchards; event planned at NECI; Parker Pie in West Glover.

· Goal setting for 2011! (Brainstorming)

· What inspires and excites you about SF? What would you like to do with SFVT?

o Chris H.: getting involved in community gardens and community groups, not just in Burlington but also around the state; having a place where people can come together to meet and talk about this.

o Martha: wants to be more involved in the VT chapter in addition to the NECI chapter; needing to share ideas with a group, as we are doing this evening.

o Mara: where can we have events that people in all parts of the state feel they could participate in; having regional captains; our group would support them through advertising and sharing of ideas.

o Chris H.: learn more about sensory education; participate in more events like the one at LCC; more potlucks; getting involved in community dinner that happens once a month in the Old North End.

o Annie; a taste of each season in each part of the state all on the same day; e.g., maple syrup in the spring; apples in the fall.

o Sarah: working with VT authors on the cookbooks that they have written, if they fall within our mission; do some classes on food prep or storage; like the workshop that Gene organized in Montpelier.

o Joyce: grandmother workshops; e.g., canning and preserving

o Hugo: wants to lend support to the ideas that are being presented this evening; has energy and time; Peruvian theme dinner.

o Gene: dinner at the food bank (Kingsbury Farm in Waitsfield)

o Martha: students have to do ~15 hours of community work each semester.

o Annie: does SFVT have presence at already established food events around the state? Mara: that’s a long-term goal. Annie: Addison County has a tour of the farms in October.

o Joe Buswell: alcohol making workshop

o Sarah: events at a producer; give tour of operation.

o Chris W.: would like market to be a venue for some of the events that we are talking about at this meeting. They do now have some space for nonprofits. Need to work with steering committee/board. E.g., tastings of different types of produce.

o Mara: Earth markets; create markets in communities that don’t have markets; initiative of SF International; none listed in USA currently. Only producers selling what they grow are part of this market; no middle persons. Existing markets can join. Brings SF global component into our area. This matches our mission statement.

o Pam: hears all of the great ideas and wants to become involved in all of them. Most interested in: educational events; sharing food events, including potlucks; cooking events at food banks.

o Annie: why not try to make this happen in many markets around the state.

o Annie: famers grow out same variety of vegetable and people taste it to compare terroir. Focus on educational component.

· If people have any other ideas, write them down and give to Chris H. Or send an email.

· Mara: described roles on the board; leader; secretary/treasurer; events; membership; two at-large board members. She then asked if anyone would like to become a board member. Great response:

o New board members: Martha (open to anything; connection with food bank and with NECI), Joyce (PR), Hugo (PR; writing stories), Chris Wagner (events).

· Mara would like to have meetings open to members this year.

· Mara’s final words: It’s all about the food!

· Meeting adjourned: 9:00PM