
Video: Whole Foods engages with local producers
A small Vermont town at the epicenter of America’s local, organic food movement grapples with a question near and dear to me and other New Hope editors. In Hardwick, Vermont, unemployment is 40 percent higher and the median income is 25 percent lower than the Vermont state average. And yet, in the midst of this economic trouble, local, organic farming is booming, according to Ben Hewitt, who writes about the town in his book The Town that Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food.
But before you start celebrating the economic engine that can be fueled by small, organic farms, listen to the piece that aired on NPR’s Morning Edition. The story looks at the other part of Hardwick—the part that can’t afford to eat at Claire’s, the local restaurant serving up the area’s food bounty, or to buy the fresh, organic produce sold at the town’s busy farmers’ market. Continue reading →