Vermont is building on the growing movement for local food systems and making this a major economic development and job driver. To accomplish this, a 10-year Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, based on a comprehensive view of the local food system, was developed with input of 1,200 people. The plan and its goals have broad support and commitment of the Governor and state agency leaders and many organizations across the state involved in and supporting local agriculture.
The VT Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF,) who facilitated the plan’s development, recognized that 
achieving the goals of the plan, i.e., creating change in a system as complex and inter-dependent as a food system, was bigger than any one organization. It calls for a network approach, creating a new type of coordinating structure that can weave together the many organizations working toward these goals for greater impact. The Network’s goal is to enable coordinated collaboration among organizations across Vermont to achieve the plan’s 33 goals and to enhance the participating organizations’ ability to meet their goals.
New Directions Collaborative and Curtis Ogden of Interaction Institute for Social Change have been working with VSJF to design the governance structure for a Farm to Plate Network. We helped facilitate the launch of the network in early October, when 150 leaders from all parts of Vermont’s food system gathered for two days to learn about networks, explore how the new network will be organized, and then they rolled up their sleeves and get to work on joint action on strategies in 2012.
The Network’s approach is built off of the RE-AMP model – creating a structure to connect and align the work of many organizations with common larger goals. It was amazing to see 150 people who represent all aspects of the Vermont food system in one room, such as the dairy industry, farmers, Farm to School programs, land use, composting, education, and state government policy makers. A key question we posed was “what is the LARGER story we want our individual stories to tell?” People were challenged to see how their work fit into and connected to the work of others and the larger goals; and to identify areas to work on in the coming year.
A local TV news video on the event includes comments from Governor Peter Shumlin, as he shared his commitment to the Plan and the network in the kick-off of the gathering. Several state agency heads spoke, emphasizing how a strong food system creates benefits for farming, tourism, economic development, health, and the environment. Participants shared their experiences and learned about successful networks already in place in Vermont, explored how this proposed network structure can work, and held six concurrent working group conversations on what strategies should be worked on in 2012. Ellen Kahler, VSJF’s Executive Director said, “Ultimately what we’re trying to get is to double the amount of locally produced food that is consumed by Vermonters over the next 10 years. The sky’s the limit, really. The market is there, the opportunity is there, people are really pumped and excited about moving this all forward.”