“The 8th annual NOFA-VT Direct Marketing conference this month offered a wide variety of workshops that provided expertise, experiences, and opportunities to stretch your mind
with new ideas and directions for farmers in the state to expand,” says Elizabeth Theriault, this week’s guest writer for the Women’s Agricultural Network Blog. Elizabeth, who is Community Engagement Coordinator at the Rutland Area Farm and Food Link (RAFFL), attended a slate of what she describes as interesting sessions and has provided us with summary and reflection on her experience.
I attended three different workshops and one networking session. The first workshop was a basic introduction to DigIn VT an agritourism website. The website was launched two years ago as a venue for people to easily tap into Vermont’s food experiences as if they were a local. The website offers listings of all the farmers markets in the state, and has three main categories: places, events and “trails.” Anyone can create a “trail “ for an area that links lots of great places together that you might visit during a trip to a particular region of the state. The site is also a great way for food hubs and farms in different regions to promote special events or host a farm tour. This website was a great new resource for me to think about using as a promotional tool and reaching out to a much wider audience, they market primarily outside of Vermont. The website is also in the process of being translated into French!
During the second session, I attended a workshop led by Abbie Nelson, who is education coordinator of NOFA Vermont and director of Vermont FEED. Abbie gave an overview of NOFA’s recently completed research on institutional demand and statewide infrastructure for local fruits, veggies, and eggs. We reviewed the report and discussed how farmers can use this research to identify institutional markets and different models for selling to institutions. The report is available on NOFA’s website.
Next up: A fun workshop on hosting successful on-farm events. Two vivacious farmers, Cat Buxton from Cedar Circle Farm and Jinny Hardy Cleland from Four Springs Farm gave us a run-down of what you need to think about when hosting an on-farm events including but not limited to: marketing, insurance, pricing/ profit, educational material, programming, scheduling and much more. It was great to learn some “tips of the trade” from two farmers that seem to have found two very different ways to really make it work.
Missed coaching at the direct marketing conference? The Vermont New Farmer Network will be offering in-person coaching at the VT Grazing Conference and at the NOFA-VT Winter Conference, sign up here!
Want to get more info about direct marketing? You can find recorded webinars on marketing strategies, articles, factsheets, and other resources in the Marketing Toolshed at the Vermont New Farmer Network website. There is also some helpful resources available here from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
About Elizabeth:
Elizabeth manages the organization’s public awareness initiatives as well as the volunteer & internship program. She has masters degrees in public health and social work and her true passion lies in working with communities around health, nutrition and sustainability. In her spare time Elizabeth reads a lot about growing food and experiments as much as possible in her garden. You can contact her at: (802) 417-1528 or
elizabeth[at]rutlandfarmandfood.org
