Hopeful Numbers

The Vermont legislature asked the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund to create an agriculture plan — basically a vision for what agriculture in the state could be in 2030. The plan was released today. It’s interesting, albeit very wonky, reading — see it here.

The thing that immediately jumps out are these hopeful numbers that detail growth in Vermont’s agricultural sector over the last decade:

Vermont’s food system economic output expanded 48%, from $7.5 billion to $11.3 billion, which includes $3 billion (26.5%) from food manufacturing.

The food system added 6,560 net new jobs (11.3% increase).

More than 64,000 Vermonters were directly employed by over 11,500 farms and food-related businesses.

Local food purchases rose from $114 million (5%) to $310 million (13.9%) of the total $2.2 billion spent on food in the state annually.

Vermont farms sold $781 million worth of products in 2017.