Harvest of the Month: Reimagining Our Resources

“Food is an entry point to all sorts of things, including social justice."

–Aimee Arandia Østensen, Professional Learning Facilitator at Shelburne Farms

Vermont Harvest of the Month (VTHOM) is a hub of resources to explore, promote, and cook through Vermont’s seasons: colorful posters, recipes, and activities centered around a seasonal food item that changes monthly. A new calendar is released annually, and thanks to a working group of the Network*, you may have noticed a different sort of update in 2022.

“Food is an entry point to all sorts of things, including social justice,” shares Aimee Arandia Østensen, Professional Learning Facilitator at Shelburne Farms. “Instead of only providing access to familiar recipes and stories, why not make VTHOM a window into something more, something that is representative of all the people in Vermont?”

And that’s the vision the team is working towards. Each season, they’re selecting one crop and combing through all associated materials—recipes, book suggestions, historical context—and applying an equity lens in order to create a more culturally sustaining collection of resources. “Our aim has always been to offer materials that all members of a school community can engage with,” says Alida Farrell, Green Mountain Farm to School Consumer Education and Food Access Coordinator, who has been working on the revisions. “The working group recognized the influence VTHOM has on farm to school education, and we want to ensure that the materials we offer promote equity across racial and ethnic communities.” 

Work began last fall, and so far two crops have been revised: winter squash and maple. The team looked at who was represented—who wrote the recipes, what perspective any historical fun facts came from, who was the suggested reading about, etc. And this was compared to state census data in order to represent as many populations as possible, especially those that had been underrepresented in the current resource. This is an ongoing process,” shares Alida. “We recognize our approach or outputs may not be perfect, but didn’t want to let perfection stand in the way of getting this project underway.” The team has gathered feedback from teachers and is incorporating it into future revisions. “Our intention is to grow the scope of this work to include consultation from BIPOC Vermonters, work closely with educators using these tools, and eventually apply updates to all VTHOM crop materials.”

Farm to school connects the 3Cs: the classroom, the cafeteria, and the community. Without representing everyone, these connections cannot be formed. “There are significant cultural presences we don’t often see represented or talked about in farm to school materials,” Aimee points out. “We redesigned these resources with the goal of promoting equity, as well as supporting students and educators in questioning dominant power structures and critiquing educational tools.”

Additional Resources: Celebrating multiple ways of knowing and being isn’t unique to this farm to school project, and recent publications inspired these revisions. Champlain Elementary’s Celebrating Our Roots recipe book is a collection of recipes from Burlington School District families that shares the diversity of cultures and perspectives in the school, weaving together family, community, gardening, cooking, and the curriculum. Additionally, New Hampshire Farm to School in collaboration with the New Hampshire Indigenous Collaborative Collective and the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People created a seasonal Indigenous Harvest Calendar. 

*The team working on this project includes: Alida Farrell, Green Mountain Farm to School; Beth Roy, Rivendell Interstate School District (and formerly Vital Communities); Lauren Griswold, Vital Communities; Guy MacGuire and Eileen Fitzgerald, South Hero Land Trust; Sheila Humphreys, Food Connects; Aimee Østensen, Shelburne Farms.