RUTLAND — The Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE) program, a federally-funded, pandemic recovery initiative created to help restaurants, farmers, and eaters through the economic challenges of the Covid pandemic, ends March 30, 2023. Vermont Farmers Food Center (VFFC) has served as the Rutland County hub for the program since August 2020.
To fill the gap, VFFC is launching Rutland County Eats, a local initiative to continue the Everyone Eats model of free meal distribution for food insecure Rutland County residents. VFFC has secured grant funding through Rutland Regional Medical Center’s Bowse Health Trust to continue a restaurant-prepared meal distribution program for Rutland County.
The number of meals that VFFC can distribute through this new program will be dependent on additional funds raised through community support of the “Spread the Love” campaign.
The last public Everyone Eats drive-thru was Thursday, March 30 at the Vermont Farmers Food Center, 251 West St. in Rutland. The partner locations at Revive Church in Poultney and the Neshobe School in Brandon also had their last drive-thru on Wednesday, March 29.
The Rutland County Eats community supported meals program will continue to generate income for Rutland County farmers through the purchase of local food and for area restaurants and caterers who are paid to prepare the meals for food insecure residents. The fundraising efforts for this program are supported by Southeastern Vermont Community Action and include: A percentage of online sales generated through VFFC’s online market. Look for the red “Spread the Love” heart to know that a purchase is going back to the community.
“Pay-It-Forward” donations where community members “Spread the Love” by making a donation through the VFFC website which will purchase a meal for a future Rutland County Eats participant.
“Spread the Love” donation jars located in participating restaurants and businesses in Rutland County.
For more information about all of the local food access programs at Vermont Farmers Food Center visit: vermontfarmersfoodcenter.org.
