Vermont Everyone Eats 

Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), an emergency relief program administered by Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), was an innovative economic development and food aid program. It was based on an integrated approach that connected people and organizations traditionally working in food systems, food security, and economic development to benefit restaurants, farms and food producers, and individual meal recipients during a time of disruption.

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From August 1, 2020, through March 31, 2023, the program received $49 million in federal and state funding. It delivered 3.9 million meals to those in need and had a multiplier effect of $78 million, additional spending by restaurants and farmers recirculating money back into the local economy. The program provided an additional $10.1 million in leverage, which is private dollars invested by farmers, farms, and food producers into the local food system equipment and infrastructure, kept over 400 full-time employees working, and created dozens of new  relationships between farms and restaurants, which are crucial for farms to sell into restaurants.