Senator Peter Welch was on the road in Vermont this week visiting a food shelf and farmers to find out how they are navigating the current economy.
The HOPE food shelf in Middlebury is one of the largest in the Middlebury area and offers a variety of foods, including fresh produce and meat from local farms.
Jeanne Montross, executive director of HOPE, or Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, led Vermont Senator Peter Welch on a tour earlier this week.
“How are you? Hi, Peter,” Welch introduces himself.
“Senator, I’m Jeanne," says Montross. "It’s very good to meet you.”
“It’s really good to see you,” Welch replies.
“So what I’d like to do is do a quick walkabout with you,” Montross tells him.
“Yeah,” Welch agrees.
“Okay, alright,” Montross says.
Montross first takes the senator through the storage area for HOPE’s resale store.
“So I’m going to take you next into our food shelf.”
The group then enters an area filled with provisions where volunteer Susan Prager is stocking the coolers. Welch, a Democrat, is a member of the Senate agriculture and finance committees. He asked Prager what she’s seeing and hearing from people.
“How do you see the need today versus say a couple years ago?”
“There’s no comparison," Prager responds. "The need is so much greater. People are just struggling. They don’t have enough money for necessities. They say things like I never thought I’d have to be here; I hate to take food away from anyone else. And we always say there’s plenty for everyone. A lot of people had never been to a food shelf before but come regularly now because they’re just struggling to make ends meet.”
Pam Thomas stopped by HOPE to get some food and vegetables.
“I usually come here once a week to get the fresh vegetables and stuff. Right now I don’t have a place to put a garden otherwise I would grow my own. I drive my own van but at $4.39 a gallon or whatever it’s costly. So I try to save my gas for my clients.”
Client Services Manager Kerry Conley has seen more people using HOPE’s services since the war in Iran began.
“It’s been so busy the last month especially it seems like we’re seeing a lot more people. These are wonderful people. A lot of them work. They try really hard and they’re just not able to make ends meet and it’s awful.”
The war has choked off supplies of fertilizer and significantly increased diesel fuel prices – two key commodities for farmers. Welch also made a stop this week at the Nitty Gritty Grain Co., an organic producer in Charlotte, to discuss agricultural costs and concerns.
Nitty Gritty Grain and Aurora Farm owner Tom Kenyon says he’s not worried about the cost of fertilizer – yet.
“We don’t fertilize in spring. We generally fertilize when we plant in the fall, because all our grains are planted in the fall. The fuel thing is another subject. That’s today. Let’s say that fuel was say $2.85 last year and this year it’s $4.45 and a hundred gallons of fuel will last one day per tractor, so it’s $445 a day per tractor.”
University of Vermont Extension Specialist Heather Darby says the primary concern for farmers right now is high diesel prices.
“We’re coming off of several really difficult crop years. Trying to gear up for a new season and then this happens. So fuel prices and then for a lot of farmers fertilizer prices have doubled since last fall.”
“Tom, you said that you usually only fertilize in the fall,” notes Bradley.
“In the fall,” Kenyon confirms as Darby agrees, “Yup.”
“How concerned are you that these high prices or the blockade in the Strait will prevent you from getting that fertilizer and it will be even higher?” asks Bradley.
“Just the unknown right there," Kenyon says. "It’ll just be a day-by-day thing and if you need it, if you can go find it you’re lucky and if you can’t find it that’s the way it is.”
