The Henry P. Kendall Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 New England Food Vision Prize, a multi-year commitment aimed at building resiliency, relationships, and capacity within New England’s farm to institution food supply chain.
Thirty five project teams submitted ideas for the 2024 Prize. A total of nine were chosen as this year’s winners, bringing together public school districts and higher education institutions with farmers, distributors, fishermen, food hubs, and other food system stakeholders to expand collaboration and increase regionally produced food in education institutions across New England.
2024 WINNERS
Building Capacity to Manufacture Upcycled Nutritious Grain Cereals & Snacks for College Students throughout New England
Skowhegan Economic Development Corporation (ME) was awarded $200,000 to support their partnership with Maine Grains, the University of Maine (UMS) system, and Sodexo’s Maine Course. The University system and Sodexo are looking for healthy, ready to eat local grain-based foods for their menus. Equipment financed by this Prize will allow Maine Grains to turn local milling, cheesemaking, seaweed, blueberry, and soy byproducts into high fiber, high protein, high value packaged goods for sale to schools. Using byproducts in new products turns waste streams into revenue streams and moves the region closer to the “30% by 2030” goal.
Creating Culturally Connected Cafeterias in the Manchester, NH School District
New Hampshire Farm to School (NH), part of the University of New Hampshire Sustainability Institute was awarded $85,894 to develop a partnership with the Manchester School Food Service Department, New Hampshire Food Alliance, Food Connects, and Fresh Start Farms. Together, they will launch a two-year project to develop culturally connected school meals and increase local sourcing through training of school food service staff, engagement with students as meal ambassadors, and relationships with two food hubs, Food Connects and Fresh Start Farms, a program of the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS).
Intervale Center, Inc. (VT) was awarded $150,000 to increase purchasing by local colleges and universities in the greater Burlington, VT area. Together with the Center for an Agricultural Economy and the University of Vermont, the Intervale Center will invest in improved ordering systems and infrastructure and strengthen pathways for increased local sourcing at several college campuses, benefiting farmers, including socially disadvantaged farmers, students, and staff.
Local Food Works for Educational Institutions
Growing Places Garden Project, Inc. (MA) was awarded $119,885 to partner with Gardner, Fitchburg, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, and Mount Wachusett Community College in their shared effort to process, source, and serve more locally grown products. The project will create locally produced products through the region’s new food processing center, provide resources and training to school staff, and actively engage farmers, producers, and students in the process to expand and sustain local purchasing.
Meat in the Middle: Building Access Into Farm-to-School Supply Chains
Red Tomato (RI) was awarded $53,012 to support a supply chain development project that enhances local food access in schools and provides local producers with reliable market access and fair pricing. Working with Brookford Farm and more than ten other small producers in the region, Red Tomato will facilitate expanding the regional sourcing partnerships with Easton and Attleboro Public Schools and food service partner Whitson’s. Through optimized logistics, streamlined ordering, and strengthened community connections, Red Tomato will expand market access for small and mid-sized farms across New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Rhody Seafood for Rhody Kids: Building Demand for Underutilized Species in School Food
The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island (RI) was awarded $200,000 to expand their monkfish slider project and increase product development and promotion of seafood products for schools. With Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Smithfield and Woonsocket Public Schools, Tony’s Seafood, Eating with the Ecosystem, and Rhode Island Farm to School, this project will expand the value chain and market demand for monkfish, increase the amount of local seafood in Rhode Island schools, and improve student and adult knowledge of local seafood.
Seasonal Solutions: Advancing Local Procurement in Vermont’s School Cafeterias With Harvest of the Month
Green Mountain Farm-to-School (VT) was awarded $78,774 to build on their food hub’s existing Vermont Harvest of the Month production planning program. This program includes targeted and sustainable customer outreach strategies that engage K-12 schools in northern and central Vermont in monthly, seasonal, locally-sourced bulk purchasing. Partnering with the North Country Supervisory Union, Harwood Unified School District, Milton Town School District, and Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network, this project will grow the program’s local food distribution by 25% within the next two school years.
Second Harvest Partnership: Upcycling Broccoli Processing Byproducts
Fork Food Lab (ME) was awarded $193,369 to develop a line of upcycled broccoli products for 14 colleges serviced by Sodexo including 30,000 students in the University of Maine system. Funds will be used to develop a portfolio of low-cost and nutritious products, such as soup, broccoli-tots, and sauce; procuring Maine grown broccoli byproducts from Harvesting Good and manufacturing upcycled products at Fork Food Lab. This project will support Sodexo and Maine Course’s goal of sourcing 30% of its university dining program ingredients from Maine by 2030.
Strengthening Food Bank Farm – Local Farmers – Springfield Public Schools Partnership
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Inc. (MA) was awarded $124,420 to support their partnership with Lakeside Organics of Hadley, Atlas Farm, and Springfield Public Schools. Prize funds will support equipment purchases that will allow farmers to grow, harvest, and process more organic vegetables on the Food Bank Farm in Hadley to sell to Springfield Public Schools. Springfield Public Schools will promote the local and organic food in the cafeteria, classroom, and on field trips to the Food Bank Farm.
The Henry P. Kendall Foundation would like to thank this year’s proposal reviewers for their participation in the Prize program. Each of these individuals brought important personal and professional experience and varying perspectives that added immense value to the review process.
Reviewers are assigned a subset of proposals based on subject matter expertise and provide written and numerical feedback to Foundation staff via the Food Vision Prize rubric.
Joe Flueckiger, Director for Retail Operations / Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Joe Flueckiger joined Harvard University Dining Services as Director for Retail Operations in November 2023. In his role, Joe manages a portfolio of professional school and campus cafes, which range from small, student-staffed coffee bars to a multi-venue graduate school hospitality program with catering. Previously the Executive Director of Dining & Hospitality Services at Amherst College and Dining Services Manager at University of Massachusetts, Joe brings decades of higher education dining experience to his role as a Prize reviewer.
Mike Flynn, Director of Student Nutrition Services / Sheepscot Valley, Regional School Unit 12, Somerville, Maine
Mike is a leader in Maine’s school nutrition and farm to school communities. His district serves more than 600 student meals a day. Mike loves incorporating the use of local ingredients through the Local Food Fund, the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant, and the school garden harvest. He prioritizes student engagement and awareness about the program and facilitates taste testing with FoodCorps representatives.
Holly Fowler, Co-Founder & CEO / Northbound Ventures, Montpelier, VT
Holly is the co-founder & CEO of Northbound Ventures Consulting, a small, woman-owned consultancy based in Montpelier, Vermont and focused on food systems, population health and community economic revitalization. Since 2013, Holly has supported more than 150 research and planning projects throughout New England and nationally that represent food centered strategic change initiatives aimed at expanding who participates in and benefits from our food system, prioritizing more transparent and values-based supply chains, and increasing regional resiliency in all its forms. Holly previously served as the Senior Director of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility for Sodexo North America, the world’s second largest provider of institutional food service, where her work in sustainable agriculture, energy, water, waste, health, and employee engagement reached 6,000 clients of all sizes in all sectors including Fortune 500 companies, national health care networks, public school districts, colleges and universities, city and state governments, and non-profit organizations. Holly has supported the New England Food Vision Prize since its inception in 2018 as a key strategic advisor and proposal reviewer.
Sam Icklan, Director of Community Nutrition Services / Project Bread, East Boston, MA
Sam Icklan is the Director of Community Nutrition Services at Project Bread, leading programs that provide professional development training and culinary support to school food service professionals to increase the quality of school meals. Based in western Massachusetts, Sam has worked with students and school nutrition professionals in school districts across the Commonwealth, advancing programs and policies to create a more equitable school food system. Sam holds an MS in Food Systems and a professional certificate in Sustainable Food Systems Leadership from the University of Vermont.
Dai Kim, Co-Executive Director / Mill City Grows, Lowell, MA
With a loyalty to Lowell and a deep connection to the community for over 25 years, Dai has been pivotal at Mill City Grows (MCG) since 2016. He orchestrated the expansive mobile market growth, integrating the successful Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program. Currently overseeing the urban farm and mobile market programs, Dai leverages his background in business management and marketing, along with corporate philanthropy, to efficiently coordinate the annual deployment of hundreds of volunteers, fueling MCG’s ongoing mission for food sovereignty. Dai’s work with University of Massachusetts Lowell was a key component of a winning 2023 Food Vision Prize.
Sandra Thomas, Director of Marketing & Customer Support / Marty’s Local, South Deerfield, MA
Launched in 2016, Marty’s Local’s trucks traverse Western Massachusetts, New York’s Hudson Valley, Vermont, and Connecticut, delivering food from more than 75 farms and food businesses to more than 300 customers. Customers include restaurants, colleges, schools, grocery stores, caterers, farm stores, retreat centers, and more. Sandra Thomas, now director of marketing and customer support, has a background in communications, organizational management, and grant writing.
Natalie Varrallo, Managing Director / Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Providence, RI
Natalie is a food scientist, advocate, and educator focused on improving sustainability and food security, primarily within marginalized communities. She has a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Sustainable Agriculture, a Sustainable MBA, a Master of Science in Food Justice, and a Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems. Natalie has spent her career working in many different facets of the food system. Her approach to work seeks to combine social justice and education while simultaneously increasing nutrition and food security within communities.
Herb Virgo, Founder and Executive Director / Keney Park Sustainability Project, North Hartford, CT
Herb is the founder and Executive Director of the Keney Park Sustainability Project (KPSP), where he has been a transformative force in North Hartford’s Keney Park since 2016. A 2023 New England Food Vision Prize winner, he has expanded KPSP’s impact through health and nutrition education, forest management, and urban agriculture. Under his leadership, the project has grown from one raised bed to over an acre of growing space, with the construction of four greenhouses, the implementation of aquaponics systems, and the donation of over 350 home garden kits, all while teaching families to grow their own food. As a dedicated social entrepreneur with deep community ties, Herb integrates his expertise in youth therapeutic education with a vision for Hartford as a model city in the urban agriculture movement. A long-time city resident with extensive community ties, Herb is committed to fostering the next generation of healthy, productive, and environmentally conscious citizens while connecting people to nature’s healing power.
