Good afternoon,

As many of you have heard, on October 28th, Vermont First, Farm to Plate, and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture are hosting the Taking Root Student Symposium at the University of Vermont. This symposium is designed for all Vermont college students to celebrate farm to institution and learn about what it means to chart a career in food.  We are pleased to share that our keynote speaker will be Ben Hewitt, a Vermont-based author of many books including The Town That Food Saved and Making Supper Safe. Throughout the day, students will learn about:

• Why farm to institution is important
• Innovative work happening in Vermont’s food system
• Career paths of many of Vermont’s leading entrepreneurs and thinkers
• Resources available at each campus for students to pursue food systems-relevant coursework as well as food-related employment
• Current food-related job opportunities; students will also have time to network directly with some Vermont employers in the food industry.

Please find the attached ‘Save the Date’.  If you have not yet responded to me about your campus’ interest in participating in this event in the following ways, please do so at your earliest convenience:

• Identifying individual or groups of students to attend the event
• Representing/providing resources about the Career Service office from your campus
• Representing/providing resources about the Food Systems/Sustainability programs offered at your school

We are capping attendance for this event at 150 students – we also would like to have statewide representation at the event.

Please note: Registration for any attendees costs $25 for the full day. If you are tabling or otherwise supporting the day’s agenda, there is no registration fee, but we will still ask folks to register for our tracking purposes.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Annie

Annie Rowell

Vermont First Coordinator

Sodexo

Work: (802) 586-2293