‘Vermont Economic Solutions Act’ would see Vermont grow most of its own food

By Guy Page

A new House bill would create a 21-member council that would make a plan for Vermont to grow the majority of its food within five years.

The newly created Council on the Economic Future of Vermont would also plan to strengthen rural infrastructure, increase Vermont household income to the top fifth in the nation, and address and prevent adverse childhood experiences.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture

Food manufacturing, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Vermont, accounts for $3 billion (26.5%) of food system economic output. Over 64,000 Vermonters are directly employed by over 11,500 farms and food-related businesses

H.57, the Vermont Economic Solutions Act, is sponsored by Rep. John Gannon, D-Wilmington, vice-chair of the Government Operations Committee, and Dave Yacovone, D-Morristown, a member of House Appropriations. It is scheduled to be introduced soon.

The council would have 21 members, with 11 members appointed by the Administration, five by the House, and five by the Senate, and will meet monthly through January 2022. The bill provides funding to the Joint Fiscal Office for a contract to staff the work and manage performance and for per diem compensation for non-administration members. The council would deliver its economic development plan to the General Assembly on or before Jan. 15, 2022 for consideration and approval.

In 2017, about 14% of food sold in Vermont reportedly was grown in Vermont. Instate food production has been on the increase in recent decades, according to a 2020 report by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture: “From 2007 to 2017 (the last year this data was available) Vermont food system economic output expanded 48%, from $7.5 billion to $11.3 billion. Food manufacturing, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Vermont, accounts for $3 billion (26.5%) of this economic output. Over 64,000 Vermonters are directly employed by over 11,500 farms and food-related businesses. From 2009 to 2018, net new food system employment increased by 6,529 jobs (11.2%).”

Read more of Guy Page’s reports. Vermont Daily is sponsored by True North Media.

Image courtesy of Vermont Agency of Agriculture

25 thoughts on “‘Vermont Economic Solutions Act’ would see Vermont grow most of its own food

  1. Looking at the picture, you have to wonder if this is the 2021 class picture of those Dems that have been elected to the legislature.

  2. Another council? Can’t Gannon and Yacovone think of some other stupid ways to spend tax money?
    I want to know what these “council” members will be paid. Off the wall!

  3. Ridiculous on so many levels as stated in most comments above. One thing not noted in most comments……the committee will cost taxpayers MORE MONEY.

  4. The onset of Communism. You will grow food, and in turn, you get a dozen carrots. You milk cows and get a quart of milk. The rest that you grow goes to the political elite.

  5. Imagine that orange grove in Stowe?
    Coffee plantations in Middlebury
    Salt mines in Montpeculiar – that is a good one!
    Campbells Soup will open a plant in Randolph
    Sugar cane in Newport
    Miles of Wheat fields in Essex County

    Or COMMON SENSE??!!

  6. This kind of central planning went well for the Russians after WW II and also for the Chinese now, where they are told they need to reduce the amount they eat because there is not enough to go around. Hello, I’m from the government and I am here to help you. Give me a break!!!

    • Imagine that orange grove in Stowe?
      Coffee plantations in Middlebury
      Salt mines in Montpeculiar – that is a good one!
      Campbells Soup will open a plant in Randolph
      Sugar cane in Newport
      Miles of Wheat fields in Essex County

      Or COMMON SENSE??!!

    • A standard East German Stasi joke:

      Why do East Germans always work in groups of three?

      You need one who can read, one who can write and one to keep a watchful eye on the two intellectuals.

  7. Vermont will be growing food? I thought everyone, from our former Lt. Governor on down, was going to plow under their organic vegetables and start growing dope…

  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_meat_consumption

    Vetroit consumes
    62.5 million pounds of meat ?

    https://beef.unl.edu/beefwatch/2020/how-many-pounds-meat-can-we-expect-beef-animal

    625,000 people in Vermont

    round it off to 625 pounds per cow

    100,000 cattle a year to the slaughter house

    https://silverlakefarms.com/how-many-cows-can-be-farmed-per-acre/

    There is also hogs & chicken.
    The beef example is how easy it is to figure out just the meat supply.
    Grain and other crops ?

    https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2020/1/27/the-worlds-first-commercial-scale-indoor-tomato-farm-to-open-in-uae

    Potato’s & Apples grow up north along with dairy products.

    Plenty of labor, teenagers and young adults. Close the schools during the growing season and close down the tourist industry and close down all entertainment & restaurants to save energy and free up labor.

    Once a week the delivery robot can deliver our weekly ration of Government Gruel.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upD6cB9Rzvk
    Oliver please sir i want some more.

  9. Amazing! Vermont’s Central Planning Committee has created an actual means of time travel! Just realize we have been traveling back in time for quite awhile. We left the digital age before it could even mange to get a foothold in Vermont. Rocketed back thru the industrial age in a blur. Blew right thru the Enlightenment, (obviously) and WHAM!!! here we find ourselves in agricultural age once again. We are very fortunate indeed the committee had the foresight to bring in a cadre of poets, puppeteers and potters at $10k a whack. Thank you Jesus for that! Taxpayer money could easily been misspent on engineers, technicians and fabricators. Let us all join hands and say it’s name——–KALE!

  10. Welcome to Vermont’s Animal Farm, where ‘all the animals are equal, but some take longer to cook.’ 🙂

    And no, I can’t take credit for this Orwellian paraphrase of our unfortunate, but nonetheless humorous, state of affairs.

  11. What are these people thinking?………Another Council of experts, this time to tell us how to grow a majority of Vermont’s food within five years? Are these people serious?

    Growing most of the food consumed in Vermont ( Food for 630,000 people) in a state with a four month growing season and no available labor source to do the work? Have the sponsors of this bill given even a nano-second of though to the extremely low wages agricultural jobs pay across this entire nation? Or what food would cost if wages were to be raised to meet Bernie’s $15 per hour minimum wage? Where are the workers to come from and what will they do for the eight month non-growing season when there is no pay check?

    This type of thinking (And waste of Vermonters’ money) represents the perfect justification for drastically cutting cut the length of legislation session………H. 57 should never be moved off the Committee board for discussion.

    With H.57, you can say goodby to oranges, oranges juice, vitamin C and hello rickets.

    • Peter,

      Everyone will have a subsidized community-supported agricultural farm, CSA, just like “farmer” Zuckerman.

      Here is a sampling of what will be happening:

      You will be farming your kitchen garden; back-yard, front-yard, roof-garden, etc.
      All your produce is mandated to go to your assigned community co-operative, so it can be evenly divided by community activists.
      You will wear a hair shirt, or woven sisal, for summer
      You will have a straw hat for summer, and a knitted ski hat for winter.
      Your pants and shirts will be wool from local sheep
      Anything made from coal, oil and gas, the “evil” troika, will not be allowed to be sold in Vermont, including all present vehicles.

      Of course, all this will not affect you and me, as we would be moving out-of-state to a saner place, PDQ, and will never look back.

    • Comrade Peter,

      Labor is no longer a concern. On January 20, 2021 the entire western hemisphere will finally be consolidated under socialist/communist control. Canada, U.S., Central and South America. Under President Xi the borders will be removed for a free flow of goods and labor. A new system will be installed on the same model as the EU. It will carry the acronym PU. (Potheads Union). Labor for menial, high risk and dangerous jobs will be provided free of cost and will be preformed by political prisoners.

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