Case Study: The Farm Between

Background

The Farm Between, a certified organic fruit farm, is located on route 15 in Jeffersonville, a village of Cambridge, Vermont. John and Nancy Hayden of The Farm Between have been farmers for over 20 years, but have recently left their off-the-farm jobs as university educators to work full time on their fruit farm. There, they use ecological principles and practices to grow cold hardy organic fruits, fruit nursery plants, and make popular value-added fruit products like fruit syrups.

This pilot project serves community members in Cambridge and Johnson, Vermont. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Cambridge Village has a population of 235 people with a estimated median household income of $31,250 while Johnson Village has a population of 1,420 with a median income of $23,846. Additionally, Cambridge and Johnson are both part of the Lamoille County, one of the three most rural and low-income counties in Vermont making this pilot project a great candidate for establishing composting infrastructure and capacity through HCC's Rural Development grant.

In their efforts to develop and expand composting infrastructure in the Lamoille Valley, HCC hosted a stakeholder meeting in Morrisville to gauge interest and forge new partnerships with community members. John Hayden attended this meeting and began thinking about establishing a community composting project in his area. The partnership between The Farm Between and HCC began in April 2013 when a memorandum of understanding was drafted and signed by both parties. John and Nancy Hayden started their pilot project by hauling food scraps from a restaurant and a grocery store in Cambridge with the hopes of expanding in the future. Now The Farm Between hauls food scraps from the following locations: Cambridge Village Market, Brown and Jenkins Coffee Roasters, The Mix (café), Cambridge Elementary School and as of February 2014, Johnson Elementary School. In the last few weeks since Johnson Elementary joined the route, The Farm Between is hauling around 1200 pounds of food scraps each week.

Go to:   Introduction  |  Materials & Methods  |  Outcomes & Results  | Challenges & Areas of Improvement  |  Conclusion