Fwd: Town Meeting Alert: Protect the Right to Grow Food!

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Seth Itzkan

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Mar 2, 2026, 12:08:47 PM (12 hours ago) Mar 2

to Soil Age

fyi - This ongoing issue in Vermont may be of interest to others.

- s

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Cat Buxton <catduff...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Subject: Fwd: Town Meeting Alert: Protect the Right to Grow Food!
To: <VH...@list.uvm.edu>

Dear VHSC,

Urgent action request for your Town Meeting - many are tomorrow!

I hope you're aware that due to a 2025 Vermont Supreme Court ruling, farms and farming in VT are no longer exempt from municipal zoning, which means towns can regulate where growing food is allowed, what animals can be raised, or when machinery can be operated, among other possibilities. There has not been enough time to fully digest this significant change before Town Meeting. Details on the ruling and what's ahead can be read here.

Thankfully, our friends Graham from Rural Vermont and Henry and Jen from the White River Conservation District have prepared materials to help all of us to bring up the Right to Grow Food at our town meetings, tomorrow! You'll find everything you need to bring this up in "other business" at your Town Meeting. If nothing else, bringing it up will likely be the first time that your neighbors have even heard about this. We cannot let our right to grow food be compromised in any way!

Good luck!

Cat

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Caroline & Graham at Rural Vermont <in...@ruralvermont.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Subject: Town Meeting Alert: Protect the Right to Grow Food!
To: <catduff...@gmail.com>

Don't forget to turn on your images!

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Action Alert:
Propose this Non-Binding Advisory Petition for The Right To Grow Food at your Town Meeting!

Dear Friend,
There hasn’t been adequate time on the issue of municipal exemption/Right to Grow Food this legislative session to do the work that would have allowed us, or you, to have this as a warned item on the agenda at Town Meeting.

With this in mind, please consider proposing the following Non-Binding Advisory Petition to the Vermont State Legislature to adopt The Right To Grow Food & restore the regulation of Farming & Farm Businesses to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets. This non-binding resolution is intended to encourage the Vermont State Legislature to restore the long-standing exemption for farms from municipal zoning, and to codify a Right to Grow Food that clearly includes the right to raise livestock and to sell agricultural products.

Thank you to Jennifer Byrne (White River NRCD) and Henry Harris (Winooksi NRCD Board of Supervisors) for launching this advisory resolution over the 2/27 weekend (in time for Town Meeting on 3/3/26). Henry Harris and Graham Unangst-Rufenacht (Rural Vermont Policy Director) were able to pass this advisory resolution at the Marshfield Town Meeting on 2/28. Please use the following materials as guidance, and feel free to reach out with any questions: in...@ruralvermont.org.

This resolution is proposed in solidarity with the ongoing organizing and advocacy of Rural Vermont, the Vermont Farm Bureau, Agri Mark, Cabot, the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance, NOFA-VT, the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, the Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance, Farm to Plate, American Farmland Trust, the Land Access and Opportunity Board, more organizations, and farmers and community members all across our state.

3/2/26 Action Alert HERE (includes instructions & materials)

Advisory Resolution HERE

Let us Know if Your Town Passed the Advisory Resolution HERE

Municipal Exemption & Right to Grow Food Background & Overview

Learn More Here: 2/10/26 Municipal Exemption Action Alert

Municipal Exemption History & Overview

Thank you.

Rural Vermont

46 E State St

Montpelier, VT 05602-3009

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Seth J. Itzkan

Cofounder, Soil4Climate Inc.

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