Each week we profile a unique locally owned community food enterprise.
This week: The Intervale Center

“Why not aim to grow much more of Vermont’s fresh food in Vermont?”  That was Will Raap’s question. In 1983 Rapp, who blends Jerry Garcia’s values with Bill Gates’ business acumen, approached then-Mayor Bernard Sanders (now a U.S. Senator) with ideas for expanding Burlington’s local food system using “the Intervale” -- 350 acres that were historically important but had fallen into desuetude. 

Remembers Rapp, “our goal was to be an economic development catalyst for the community with land-based enterprises that could help restore the Intervale and transform the local food system.” 

Mayor Sander leased its land to Rapp, who launched a composting program and the state’s first CSA.  Since then, The Intervale Center has created a thriving web of for-profit enterprises and non-profit educational programs that have become the backbone of northern Vermont’s food system, including a youth education program, a food-business incubator for established farmers, a land preservation initiative, community outreach programs, the state’s biggest CSA, and Burlington’s county composting program. Revenue from these businesses supports public education efforts, including job training to at-risk youth, a gleaning project, and ways for kids to engage with local food producers.

Former Executive Director Kit Perkins says, “the essence of the Intervale is sustainable development, and the vehicle is farms and food.  Through land- and farm-based enterprises, we generate social and economic opportunities and protect environmental resources.”

Each program is evaluated against a triple bottom line of profitability, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility. “Take our Youth Farm,” continues Perkins. “We are mitigating poverty, getting fresh local foods to families in need, training kids in nutrition and entrepreneurship, breaking the cycle of the poverty they’ve been living in.”

The Intervale Center combines for-profit management, non-profit social enterprise, a deep sense of place and a commitment to the surrounding land.

Intervale Center website * Past Featured Enterprises * CFE Website

More resources

Seven Days' Video Feature on "Healthy City Youth Farm" at the Intervale Center
From: Seven Days, a Vermont-based publication

From Seven Days (http://www.7dvt.com/2008intervale-centers-healthy-city):

When did kale become so cool? Down at Burlington's Intervale Center, the Healthy City kids are growing vegetables, becoming farmers, volunteering in their community, working a summer job and changing the world, weed by weed.

Check out all the good things the Healthy City Youth Farm has to offer.

Music: Keith & Tony's Freestyle

The Food Hub
From: The Intervale Center website

The Food Hub is committed to building a community food system that connects Vermonters in ways that are convenient, profitable and fair. As part of a collaborative process, the Intervale Center identifies and implements creative strategies to assist farmers with securing new, stable markets. Read more...