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Hardwick, Vermont's Green Initiatives

You wouldn't have imagined that a town established on such a granite foundation would eventually need to reinvent itself so entirely, but it seems no community is unshakable on the shifting grounds of economic change. The small northern Vermont town of Hardwick boomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the "Building Granite Center of the World", but such natural resources are finite in supply. Now, through measures that are more communal and cooperative than driven by civil government offices, the people of Hardwick have re-imagined what it would mean to be the community of Hardwick.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS
by Daniel P. Kray, Editor
July 10, 2009

In Hardwick, Vermont, used cooking oil from local restaurants is recycled as a heating source to support local greenhouses, which in turn extends the growing season and the array of produce available for sale to those same local restaurants.

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE
by Daniel P. Kray, Editor
July 10, 2009

If you're not familiar with the concept of community supported agriculture, your next step should be to type that phrase and your zip code into the nearest available search engine. There may be no better deal or value in the food market. While plenty of variation exists from CSA to CSA, the basic concept behind community supported agriculture is to escape the framework of commodity farming (producing one crop in massive quantities for global consumption) by genuinely bringing a farm's customers into the entire agricultural production system.

Typically, CSAs work on a membership system, requiring an up-front fee that is more than returned in abundant produce that can be collected or delivered throughout the growing season. Members won't have too much choice in the produce they collect week to week, often simply being handed a large paper bag or two of whatever is fresh (even if the recipient might not know right away what to do with, say, garlic scapes), but in addition to membership fees, community supported agriculture members are invited and sometimes expected to help the managing farmer to select what crops will be grown, and then assist in all the planting, weeding, and harvesting that will bring it to the table.

Hardwick, VT has taken the concept and expanded it, as should come as no surprise. Their local CSA has pulled together 30 farm and food producing sources into a widely productive collective organized by the owner of Pete's Greens, a local organic farm, which itself has become an esteemed supplier for haute restaurants around the country.

LOCAVORE
by Daniel P. Kray, Editor
July 10, 2009

In 2008, companies such as Conde Nast and Yankee Magazine turned their culinary praise in the direction of Claire's, a restaurant opened, run, financially supported, and supplied by the local farming, business, and residential communities of Hardwick, VT. Over 100 local residents bought shares in the locavore restaurant, which was created with a vision of "emphasizing local and sustainable produce, artisan products, and responsible business practices that support our communities." Following a growing trend, the restaurant and its local farm, dairy, artisanal food, and greenhouse producers work together to plan seasonal menus reflecting current harvests, even going so far as to serve little to no greens during the green-less winter months, relying on the creativity-requiring bounty of the root cellar.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
by Daniel P. Kray, Editor
July 10, 2009

Local soy farmer and entrepreneur Andrew Meyer established the regional Center for an Agricultural Economy to guide and inspire much of Hardwick's recent evolution into a sustainable, mutually supportive economic community, what they call the "emerging 21st century food system". The group recently entered into an understanding with the University of Vermont to cooperate on research and education, while already well entwined with local Sterling College and the Highfields Institute on sustainable farming solutions and expanding the concept of mutually supportive local farms and businesses.

HARDWICK, VERMONT'S GREEN NEWS

Do you live in Hardwick, Vermont? Can you tell us more about the exciting green initiatives going on there?