Farm to School Champions Push for Legislative Support Amid Budget Pressures
Feb. 12 marked Farm to School (FTS) Awareness Day at the Vermont Statehouse, a celebration of programs that connect students to local food by integrating agriculture, nutrition, and food systems education in classrooms and cafeterias. In attendance was John Buck of Buck Family Maple, who joined advocates to stress the importance of sustaining FTS funding.
By Devan Monette, Harvest of the Month Program Manager at Food Connects in Brattleboro
For any farmer, time is precious. For a sugarmaker, this is especially true in February, when the clock is ticking on the upcoming sugaring season. However, on Feb. 12, for John Buck of Buck Family Maple, sugaring could wait.
There was important business at the Statehouse.
The historic halls were bustling with FTS advocates from across the state—students, educators, and farmers—all of whom have seen firsthand the impact of growing, cooking, and tasting local foods in schools.
Among them, Buck testified in support of FTS grants, which fund Farm to School programs, and Local Food Incentive programs, which reimburse school meal programs for purchasing local food—advocating for both to remain in the state budget.
With mounting pressure to avoid tax increases, lawmakers listened to testimonies to inform deliberations on their recommendations for the state's budget.
Sitting before the VT House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry— the room warm from shoulder-to-shoulder FTS supporters—Buck addressed the significance of these programs in the long-term health and viability of Vermont's communities.
“Knowing that these kids are seeing food produced next door,” Buck said. "It's really gratifying for us.”
Aside from the immediate benefit of gaining a steady customer in the Central Vermont School District, Buck zoomed out to emphasize the interconnectivity that FTS provides for growing minds:
“[They learn that] maple comes from the trees, beef comes from farms,” Buck continued. “[Food] comes from the earth, it comes from our neighbors.”
What's good for farmers is good for communities
Alongside Buck, many others presented on the impacts of FTS across the state, highlighting some of the research that demonstrates the spending power of schools on local food.
According to a 2016 study by Rachel et al. through the Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont, every dollar spent on local foods contributed $1.60 back into Vermont's economy.
With the Vermont Legislative Joint Fiscal Office estimating that $20-$31 million is spent on food in public schools each year, FTS serves as a powerful driver of local economic growth.
And with four leading food hubs selling a combined $726,704 of local foods across the state in the 2023-24 school year, Vermont is only beginning to experience the full economic impact.
Echoing this sentiment, Buck emphasized the role of FTS. “Sustaining small farms in Vermont is crucial, and I think the Farm to School program is essential to making that happen.”
Yet these testimonies were just a fraction of the many compelling stories shared about an array of programs under careful review by state legislators.
One committee member, Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun of Westminster, reflected on the day and highlighted in an email some of the daunting decisions she and her colleagues face.
“FTS and other local food initiatives face the same challenges as all programs in the Statehouse right now: there are not enough funds available for important programs,” Bos-Lun wrote.
She continued, voicing her support: “FTS programs are important for kids, for farmers, and for our future as today’s students grow into adulthood with healthy habits, an appreciation for local food, and strong connections to the farms that produce it.”
Yet a difficult decision remains: which programs will make the budget, and which will be cut?
“I believe my whole committee strongly values FTS programs, but we also value emergency relief funds for farmers, grants to help small farms stay in business, and maintaining our forests to prevent forest fires and promote a balanced ecological situation,” Bos-Lun wrote. “There will be hard choices ahead.”
A source of sustainability
For Buck Family Maple, the decision to forge a steady relationship with local schools was an easy one.
Located in South Washington, Vt., Buck started Buck Family Maple with his son, James Buck, on a parcel of the historic farm that had been tapped for over 200 years.
With Washington Village School just six miles away, providing syrup to the community comes with the added benefit of instilling an appreciation for local farms in future generations.
“They grow up and serve on planning commissions and become leaders making decisions about what to do with land,” Buck said, reflecting on the impact of FTS. “To be able to recognize that, while it'd be nice to have another office building here, we also need to grow food for people.”
But the value of FTS goes beyond just recognizing the importance of local food—just as the hard work that goes into sugaring isn’t only about making maple syrup.
Like many of the over 100 local farms that sell food to Vermont schools, Buck Family Maple operates with sustainability at the forefront of its harvests.
In a sugarbush, this means creating a welcoming habitat for birds of prey, which help maintain a natural balance by controlling populations of problematic animals like squirrels that chew on the tubing used to channel sap to the sugarhouse.
As a retired wildlife biologist, Buck highlights the practices that qualify his 70-acre sugarbush as a participating producer with Audubon Vermont: standing dead trees, closed canopies, and a diversity of tree species and ages throughout the forest.
Many of these practices don’t provide an immediate payout—they are long-term investments in the health of future generations.
“Any farm thinks about sustainability—taking good care of the earth, the forest, the farmland—but also about the next generation,” Buck said.
Where local farms and Farm To School programming intersect
Community-oriented farms like Buck Family Maple demonstrate how to protect the land that sustains us. Integrating agriculture, scratch cooking, and nutrition into children’s education is an investment in ensuring the next generation understands this fundamental connection.
Checking in on the sleeping sugarbush, Buck proudly introduced the maples that would soon wake with the warming sunshine. Visiting each one like an old friend, he placed his hand on a trunk and gazed up into the crown.
Summarizing the broader importance of land stewardship, Buck explained, “The tree crowns touch each other, so the birds and others can move freely—keeping the forest as connected as possible.”
As the season shifts and the trees begin to run, so too does the work of ensuring Farm to School programming remains a priority for Vermont schools—so that the next generation has access to healthy food and a deep appreciation for the people and landscapes that make it possible.
Stepping back to take in the forest, Buck continued, “I think Farm to School just reinforces that whole mantra—the cultural web—that we all depend on each other in some sense.”