Food Assistance

There are a number of local and state resources that may be useful for food assistance, both short- and long-term. 

Waterbury Area Food Shelf 
The Waterbury Area Food Shelf is open for anyone who lives in the Waterbury area (Waterbury, Waterbury Center, Duxbury, Bolton, Middlesex, Moretown, etc.) and needs help with putting food on the table. Please call or come to visit us and we will help you get what you need.  Food Shelf Director: Cara Griswold; phone:
802-244-1561.  The Food Shelf has been moving around a bit because of Irene.  Call Cara to find out where they are operating and what current hours are.

Duxbury Elf Shelf
The Elf Shelf (Duxbury's emergency food pantry) is located in the basement of the Duxbury town office on Route 100 (next to the big town garage).  They offer staples, meat and other commodities for those in need.  There is no limit to the number of visits per month.  It is open Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8 to 10 AM.  Contact Ruth Haskins for more information: 802-371-9906.

Free & Reduced Meals at School
Your child or children may qualify for free & reduced meals at school.  The schools serve breakfast and lunch each day; this support can be worth up to $800 per year, per child.  The application takes only about 5 minutes to complete for the entire household and is approved quickly.  The application is available here and is confidential; return it in to the main office of Thatcher Brook Primary School or Crossett Brook Middle School in an envelope to the attention of Erika Dolan.

Waterbury Area Senior Center
In addition to providing a number of other quality-of-life services, the Waterbury Area Senior Center serves meals about 10,000 meals a year to 250 members and friends in Duxbury, Moretown, Middlesex and Waterbury.  About one third of these meals are delivered to the homes of elders who cannot cook and are unable to travel to the center. For more information, call 802-244-1234.

3SquaresVT
3SquaresVT is Vermont's version of Food Stamps.  It operates through an EBT card which can be used in stores throughout the area.  3SquaresVTcan help you stretch your food budget and put three square meals a day on your table.  Enrollment in 3SquaresVT also automatically provides your child with free and reduced meals at school.  Click here to go the state's website, which has information about qualifying incomes, the application itself, and many other aspects of the program.

WIC
WIC is a supplemental nutritional program for women (including pregnant women), infants and children under the age of five that is funded by the federal government to help families eat well and stay healthy.  Food is delivered to your home and you receive an EBT card for supplemental fruit and vegetable purchases; nutrition and cooking classes are offered; kids' health screenings are available, as are referrals for additional support and medical services.  Click here for more information.

Good Neighbor Fund
The Waterbury Good Neighbor Fund is also available for emergencies when individuals or families are unable to make ends meet.  This is a no-strings attached gift to help neighbors through tough times.  Serving the wider Waterbury area, this is run through CAST (Community Action Service Team).  Open every day, begin the process by calling 802-244-6606 and leaving a confidential message for the fund's administrators (Peter Plagge and Lisa Ransom).  

Gardening with Children

Here's a great set of ideas to begin to develop a love of gardening in your child, compiled by Kelley Taft.

Farmer's Markets

Farmers' Markets are one of the easiest ways to get great food, support our local producers, and connect with other community members.  In one stop, you can check a lot of aspects off your things-I-did-for-myself-today list!  Here's a bit of information about area markets for your planning:

• Waterbury Farmers Market
  ...from May to October, the market is on Thursday afternoons, at Rusty Parker Park in the Village.  During summer months, it's followed by the free Rotary Concert Series -- a fun and relaxing weekly community event.  From November to April, the market moves to a monthly schedule, inside, at Thatcher Brook Primary School on Stowe Street on Saturdays.  Find out more at their website.
  
• Waitsfield Farmers Market
  ... from May through October, enjoy this popular community gathering on Saturday mornings at the Mad River Green in Irasville.  More information is available here.
  
• Richmond Farmers' Market
  ...from June through October, on Friday afternoon/evenings on the green just before the bridge.
  
• Montpelier Farmers' Market
  ... from May to October, Saturday mornings on State Street.  During the fall and winter, the market moves inside and is held every other week (is that bi- or semi-?  I can never remember!) at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.  Click here for more information.
  
• Stowe Farmers' Market
  ...during the summer months, held on Sundays next to the Red Barn Shops on the Mountain Road.  Find out more here.
• Other Farmers Markets
  NOFA VT has the most detailed list of farmers markets that we've found.  Here's a link to their list.
  

CSAs

A CSA share, or Community Supported Agriculture share, is an increasingly popular way to support local farms -- and your own great eating!  Typically, consumers pay a lump sum to the farmer at the beginning of a season and then pick up a box or bag of produce each week at an appointed time.  Sometimes there is an element of barter -- the consumer may be asked to volunteer on the farm in some capacity.  The CSA arrangement helps farmers by providing them with capital at a time when that's often running low but expenses are high (at the beginning of the growing season), and is usually a money-saving way for consumers to get fresh, local and often-organic produce.  For many people, it provides a satisfying connection between producers and consumers as well.

In Vermont, there are variations on the theme in addition to the traditional model described above: winter shares of storage vegetables and greenhouse-grown produce, meat shares (set number of packages of fish, chicken, beef or pork picked up weekly or monthly), monthly shares, and also localvore shares (you get a grab bag of food items procured by the farmer from other local producers -- e.g., eggs, cheese, oats, jams, maple syrup).  There are probably even more models out there!

We know that these two farms deliver CSA shares to Waterbury:

1. Pete's Greens (Craftsbury)
2. Maple Wind Farms/Monitor Barns (Huntington)
   

1. Gaylord Farm in Waitsfield
2. Hartshorn Farm in Waitsfield