New Hampshire and Vermont: our growing seasons may be short, but our love of local is not! Have you ever wondered what counts as local?
We’re glad you asked!
The answer is, it depends.
In New Hampshire, the legislature defines local as within the boundary of the state. Prior to 2020, Vermont had a similar definition, though it included foods that were from within 30 miles of the point of sale. Meaning that foods from Southern Quebec could be local when sold within 30 miles of their destination in the northern part of the state. As a small geographic area state, this approach helps boarder communities (hey Upper Valley) make choices that best support them and build bonds across borders.
In 2020 Vermont united the marketing terms ‘Vermont’ and ‘Local,’ eliminating the avenue for mileage-qualifying and across the border benefits of the prior definition. The new approach, solidified in Act 129, creates categories of food products with different requirements for each category. Act 129 also unites the terms ‘Vermont and/or Local’ in food and food products. While this eliminates food from just across the border, its intention is to build visibility and marketspace for ‘Vermont’ foods. You can read more about Vermont’s definitions for Raw Agricultural Products, Processed Food, and Unique Food Products here.
At the co-op, we think about local as within 100 miles of our stores. We strive to make it easy for shoppers to choose local products through our signs, product placement, sampling, and merchandising. Good food doesn’t have to be hard, it can simply be delicious! You can spot our local offerings on the shelf by the white sign with the green leaf. Each sign has the exact distance to the store from the farm to our receiving dock. So cool!
August 1st marks the beginning of NH Eats Local month. There’s a kickoff event at Brookford Farm that evening from 6-8 p.m. with fresh food (of course!) and live music. We hope to see you there!
We’ll be handing out Live Free + Eat Local Challenge cards, as well as raffling off a tote filled to the brim with NH grown goodies. Find our table at the Producer’s Fair in the Centerra parking lot on Saturday, August 10th (shameless plug for our famed free food event!) to enter the raffle and grab your challenge card. You can also enter the challenge and see more details here.
We hope you’ll join us in enjoying all of the local bounty throughout the month of August, here’s your reminder that as a member-owner you earn 2% rewards on NH and VT products every day.
Rebecca White is the Co-op’s Public & Government Affairs Associate.
