Sustainable Food Systems Cluster, Vermont Style

Abstract

Vermont, as one of the most rural and independent states in the U.S., has always relied heavily on agriculture and its natural environment to underpin its economy. This article examines the state's agricultural economy as a sustainable food systems cluster and how it is adapting to the global economy, corporate agriculture, and environmental concerns. It describes the scale and concentration of the cluster, its support structure, and the ways it impact other sectors of the economy, including energy, tourism, and the arts. It also explains how a cluster of largely small-scale and artisan enterprises that often represent lifestyle rather than economic choices can be innovative, collectively create a wealth-producing and branded cluster, and the implications of the new agricultural model for the state's educational system.

Notes

CSAs, which originated in Europe in the 1960s, represent a community of individuals who share the risks and benefits with the farm operators. Members are “share-holders” who pledge to cover anticipated costs of the farm operation in return for shares of the farm's production.

They include poet Louise Gluck and authors Noel Perrin, David Mamet and Don Bredes, whose latest mystery, “The Errand Boy”, is about conflict between family and factory-style farms in Vermont.

Orvis is a Vermont-based company that was founded in 1856 for mail order fishing and hunting gear and clothing and now sells high-end casual and outdoor clothing and sporting in its own retail stores and on the Internet.