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ACORN’s ‘Farmacy’ books local farmers, provides fresh veggies
“ACORN’s really excited about the program because it promotes farm viability. This is a guaranteed market for farms.”
— Lindsey Berk
MIDDLEBURY — On Thursday afternoons from July through October, the Addison County Relocalization Network’s site on Exchange Street in Middlebury is bustling with activity. Each week ACORN staff and volunteers help package shares of fresh produce from local farms, which are then doled out and delivered to 100 local families.
The effort is known as ACORN’s Farmacy: Food is Medicine program, through which community members receive prescriptions from their healthcare providers or other referrals to receive free shares of fruits and vegetables.
“I feel absolutely so fortunate to be in the program,” said Middlebury resident Lisa Lamoureux, who’s participated in ACORN’s Farmacy for around four years. “The people are all so nice; the food is so good and fresh.”
ACORN’s Farmacy program is one of one of several produce prescription programs recognized across the state and is aimed at tackling diet-related illnesses, food insecurity and local farm viability in Addison County. The program kicked off in 2019 through a partnership with the Vermont Department of Health, the former Mountain Health Center in Bristol, Middlebury’s UVM Porter Medical Center and three local farms.

THE ACORN TEAM packs up shares of locally grown fruits and vegetables for last week’s Farmacy distribution day. The Farmacy program is one of several produce prescription programs recognized in the state and delivers free produce to 100 families around the county.
Photo courtesy of Lilah Krugman
Now in its sixth-year, the program continues to receive funding from Porter and a variety of other entities. This year the program is supported by funding from the Vermont Foodbank, Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, Turrell Fund, United Way Addison County, Middlebury Rotary Club, Neat Repeats, St. Stephen’s Church, Ben and Jerry’s, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lawson’s Sunshine Fund and private donations.
That funding goes toward purchasing crops from three Addison County farms: Old Road Farm in Granville, and Last Resort Farm and New Leaf Organics, both in Monkton.
“We’re buying the food from three local, organic farms at the prices that they want,” ACORN Executive Director Lindsey Berk said. “This is the best of local produce that you can get and in turn, we give it to folks who have been referred from their physicians or health care providers. They’re screened for either diet-related illness or food insecurity.”
Berk noted that not everyone goes to a doctor, so some sign-ups come through word-of-mouth referrals and shares purchased by the Middlebury nonprofit Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, the Vermont Department of Health’s You First program, and Village Health.
Community members receive nine crops every week, three from each participating farm. Weekly offerings are planned in advance and coordinated by the local farms to ensure families receive a variety of fruits and vegetables.
“ACORN’s really excited about the program because it promotes farm viability. This is a guaranteed market for farms,” Berk said. “If something is failing in the field due to the crazy climate or it’s flooded, we’ll take a different crop, so they’re not losing any money.”
The Farmacy program also receives some donated gleaned produce from HOPE, which community members can add to their share.
Ripton resident Melanie Smith has participated in ACORN’s Farmacy program for around three years. She said she often uses produce to make soup.
“It’s kind of fun to see what they have every week. There’s always a good variety,” Smith said. “Sometimes they have stuff I’ve never heard of before; different squashes and things like that.”

ACORN STAFF AND volunteers dole out shares of produce at a July 11 distribution day for the Farmacy: Food is Medicine program. Through the program community members receive prescriptions from their health care provider or other referrals to receive free shares of locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Independent photo/Marin Howell
Each week’s share comes with an informational newsletter that includes tips on using the produce, a spotlight on a local organization, and a budget-friendly recipe. Samples prepared by Middlebury College interns allow community members to try out the recipes featured each week.
In addition to supporting local farms, the program is aimed at helping increase community members’ access to local food. In its first year, ACORN distributed 45 shares through the Farmacy program, which has since expanded to 100 shares.
“We’ve grown it incrementally as space and funding has allowed,” Berk said. “(100 shares) is the max we can do with the size of our cooler and what farmers can fit into their van at one time.”
Berk noted the program would like to keep growing and could add a second distribution day with the staff capacity and funding to buy more shares.
Currently, local families participating in the program pick up their shares at ACORN’s Food Hub site at 616 Exchange St. each Thursday from mid-July through October. The ACORN team also delivers shares to around 15-20% of community members signed-up for the program, an offering supported by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
“These homebound participants might be even more in need of these shares as it’s hard to be able to access local food if you can’t go on a farm, to a farmers market,” ACORN Programs and Outreach Coordinator Lilah Krugman said. “That feels like a challenge that we’re really overcoming.”
Finding sustainable funding for the program is another challenge the ACORN team has navigated over the years. Krugman helps facilitate the community of practice for Farmacy programs across the state, which she said meets to talk about problems faced and gain insight from one another.
“The most important thing that we do is aggregate data,” Krugman said. “We have about five questions on our surveys that are similar to each other so that we can pull that data and seize reports. Hopefully at some point that will form some kind of appeal for statewide funding for these programs.”
Last year ACORN’s Farmacy program distributed 14,000 pounds of locally purchased food to 100 area families, representing $48,300 in direct support to local organic farms. According to the 2023 Farmacy report, 95% of participants reported the program benefited their health and 78% indicated their confidence in cooking had increased.
Berk noted ACORN has also observed less tangible benefits of the Farmacy program, such as social cohesion for those involved in it.
“People feel more connected to the community just through coming here and picking up (shares). There’s a lot of conversations happening,” Berk explained.
Participants have also expressed a sense of joy and belonging to the agricultural community, Berk said.
“Especially for folks who otherwise can’t afford to buy this local food, they often don’t feel a part of that community,” she said. “This is a way of them feeling part of the community.”
YEAR-ROUND OFFERINGS
Farmacy’s weekly pick-ups typically stop in October, but this year ACORN has received funding from the Vermont Food Bank to offer a year-round CSA for the first time. Berk said ACORN will offer a monthly pick-up from November through June.
“That’s really exciting because we’re going to be adding in some value-added products,” Berk said. “Since there’s less vegetables in those months, we’re going to add in things like eggs, cheese, maybe some meats.”
ACORN currently has funding to offer 50 shares, and Berk noted the organization is looking to raise funds to offer another 50.
Looking ahead, Berk noted there are other ways the Farmacy program could continue to evolve, including finding a weekly distribution site to better serve participants. She noted the current location at ACORN’s Food Hub has been subject to heavy rains and heat in past summers.
“In our future world, we’re in a place where people can come inside and really enjoy being there,” Berk said.
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