This guest blog post was written by: Mae Quilty, Assistant Director of Community Engagement at City Market
While 2020 has certainly brought its fair share of challenges, it has also helped to forge new partnerships and shed light on some of the incredible work happening around our state, most notably in response to rising food insecurity brought on by COVID-19. For the past six months, we’ve watched the cooperative spirit of Vermont shine as organizations and individuals have rallied together to ensure that all Vermonters have access to food. At City Market, we’ve worked closely with a number of organizations including Age Well, The Family Room, HANDS, Feeding Chittenden and the City of Burlington to help facilitate food distribution as hunger in the state rises to record levels.
ShiftMeals is another great example of this innovative approach, helping people get back to work while supporting local farms and food producers. We were thrilled when their team reached out about partnering on an exciting series, A Force to Be Reckoned With, featuring the women and femmes who keep Vermont’s food system turning day in and day out. For a number of years, we’ve partnered with the Intervale Center to host panel discussion on hot button food issues through a series called The Dish. Back in 2017, we hosted the first of two discussions focused on women in the food system, aptly titled “A Place at the Table.” In over five years of hosting this series, these two discussions were our most highly attended. It became clear that there was a desire from our community for events and programming that highlighted the role that women play in our state’s farm and food economy.
Now, in the world of social distancing, we’re excited for the opportunity to continue the conversation online. We’re grateful for the panelists who have offered their time and expertise as well as to the organizers from ShiftMeals for bringing this important topic to light. We hope you’ll join us for these conversations on Thursdays at noon this fall!
You can learn more about the series here.
– Mae Quilty