From Rural Survival to Rural Revival
by Shannon Courtney
‘We export inspiration!’
I smiled when I first heard this proclamation uttered about Hardwick, Vermont. A former mining town that fell from its glory days at the outset of World War II, it has weathered decades of economic depression. Unemployment and poverty rates run high, and jobs in the town are scarce; on a snowy winter morning most of the tire tracks lead out town. By all accounts, Hardwick seemed to like the kind of town you’d drive through, rather than one you’d drive to. And yet, that’s precisely where I set off for in the fall of 2009. I would spend five weeks living in this tiny town while I carried out field research for my Masters thesis on local food systems. Despite its longstanding reputation as ‘hardscrabble’, Hardwick had recently found itself in the glow of the media limelight. The New York Times had trumpeted the virtues of its twenty-first century local food system and Gourmet magazine dubbed it ‘the town that food saved.’ I arrived on a cold, crisp evening in late October as the leaves were doing their final fiery dance of the season, ready to discover what secrets this little town of 3,200 in northeastern Vermont held. Was Hardwick really a turn-around town? Were organic vegetables, artisan cheeses and small-scale agriculture truly the path to rural revival?
Community. Co-operation. Collaboration. It did not take long before I came to realize that these are the lynchpins of Hardwick’s local food system. Main Street is home to the Buffalo Mountain Co-op, a member-owned and collectively managed grocery store that has a buy local policy, hosts various community events and has a motto of ‘food for people, not for profit’. Next door, the Center for an Agricultural Economy’s staff of six are working tirelessly on projects, events and initiatives aimed at enhancing community food security, educating community members and ensuring local farmers have access to reliable markets close to home. The non-profit was envisioned by a local food entrepreneur and is now overseen by a Board of Directors representing local food-based enterprises.
To the other side of the Center for an Ag Economy, Claire’s restaurant represents a true community-supported endeavor. The popular restaurant, which opened in the spring of 2008, was able to raise half of its initial operating capital by selling community-supported restaurant coupons/subscriptions to community members, who received monthly coupons redeemable at the restaurant over a four-year period. Now in its day-to-day operations, Claire’s seeks to support local producers, purchasing approximately 80% of its food from local sources throughout the year with an ever-changing menu reflects the seasons and availability of food.
Beyond Main Street, co-operation and camaraderie have enabled small-scale farms and agri-enterprises to thrive, even while the state’s well-established dairy industry is in freefall . High Mowing Seeds, a fast-growing organic seed company, sends squash from its trial gardens to Pete’s Greens, a neighbouring community supported agriculture operation with 350 members, where it is turned into delicious soup. Other crops from the High Mowing are harvested by Salvation Farms, a gleaning program of the Vermont Foodbank. In nearby Greensboro, the Kehler brothers are capturing the attention of the cheese world with The Cellars at Jasper Hill. The seven-vault, twenty two thousand square foot facilities offer local cheese-makers (some of whom are former dairy farmers) the opportunity to outsource the aging, marketing and distribution of their artisan cheeses. Every month, these ag-business owners and others in the area come together to share food, tour the hosts’ operations, and discuss business issues. Over the past few years, this tight network of socially-minded entrepreneurs have supported each other by lending money and promoting each other’s businesses.
Every day, I found myself marveling at yet another community-focused endeavour, a creative collaboration, a generous act of neighbourliness. At the end of my five weeks I really didn’t want to leave because, well, Hardwick had come to feel like home. The clerks at the co-op knew my member number, I’d discovered a sure way to make new friends involved sidling up to the bar at Claire’s at around 5 o’clock, and the bulletin board of community events was filled with enticing opportunities to gather, learn, share, and eat. What I came to realize during my short stay was that Hardwick doesn’t have secrets; rather it has people willing to work together to overcome hardships, people who still believe they can carve their own destiny, and people who truly value what it is to be part of a community. And that has made all the difference.
A native of Prince Edward Island, Shannon Courtney recently returned to the Island after spending two years in Kingston, Ontario where she pursued a Masters in Environmental Studies from Queen’s University. She is passionate about community resiliency, and believes that the food system is central to the economic, environmental, social, and cultural well-being of a community. To learn more about Hardwick, Vermont, visit us on-line at www.agrimag.ca.
