H. ____
Introduced by
Referred to Committee on
Date
Subject Agriculture; food access; nutrition; farmers markets; public health
The Local Harvest Act
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
This act may be cited as the “Local Harvest Act.”
The General Assembly finds:
(1) That at least five separate funding streams in this State pay for the same transaction — a third party pays, a household receives fresh food, and a local farm is paid — and that these five streams are administered under five separate sets of rules, by five separate authorities, with no common point of entry for the household or the farmer.
(2) That these streams include federal nutrition incentive matching at farmers markets; the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; the federal Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; produce prescriptions issued by health care providers; and direct community purchase of local food for charitable distribution.
(3) That each of these streams is restricted, by design and by federal law, principally to fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and that they are therefore nutrition programs rather than general food assistance, but are administered and explained to the public as general food assistance.
(4) That coupon-based programs in this State operate from a fixed annual appropriation on a first-come, first-served basis, that booklets are commonly exhausted in August, and that the season of greatest local harvest therefore falls after the season of available benefit.
(5) That State nutrition incentive matching has not been placed in the base budget, that it received no appropriation in one recent fiscal year, and that this inconsistency imposes a planning burden on farmers and a comprehension burden on shoppers.
(6) That produce prescription programs in this State purchased $405,430 in food from 39 Vermont farms in calendar year 2024, an increase of 162 percent over the prior year; that a single county program has directed more than $450,000 to Vermont farms since 2015; and that participating farmers report that guaranteed seasonal demand makes planting and budget decisions materially easier.
(7) That federal changes effective in 2026 expanded work reporting requirements for adults aged 18 through 64 and removed exemptions previously extended to veterans, persons experiencing homelessness, and youth aging out of foster care, and that these changes are expected to move households from federal nutrition benefits toward charitable food distribution at the same time that the State’s share of program administrative cost is scheduled to rise.
(8) That charitable food distribution in this State relies substantially on the recovery and redistribution of donated food, which is weighted toward shelf-stable products, and that a purchase-based model returns full retail price to the producer and delivers fresh produce, dairy, eggs, and protein that recovery cannot reliably supply.
(9) That civil and criminal liability for good-faith food donation was resolved by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act and further clarified by the Food Donation Improvement Act of 2023, and that residual uncertainty about liability, rather than actual exposure, continues to deter participation.
(10) That the two parties present at every one of these transactions — the farmer who grows the food and the household that eats it — hold the least formal authority over how the money moves, and that the coordination failure described in this section is a predictable consequence of that arrangement.
The purposes of this act are to consolidate the point of access without consolidating the programs; to pay local producers full retail price for food distributed charitably; to ensure that a household is told, once and in plain language, everything it may use; and to vest allocation authority in the persons closest to the transaction.
As used in this act:
(1) “Access point” means a staffed station at or adjacent to a participating market at which all nutrition benefits may be presented, redeemed, matched, or issued in a single interaction.
(2) “Council” means a regional harvest council established under Sec. 8 of this act.
(3) “Eligible producer” means an individual or entity authorized to sell at a participating market that:
(A) grows, raises, or produces the food it offers;
(B) conducts its primary agricultural production within this State, or within 30 miles of the State border;
(C) is operated by a person who materially participates in the operation, meaning regular, continuous, and substantial involvement in its management or physical work; and
(D) does not derive more than 25 percent of the value of goods it offers at a participating market from products purchased for resale.
(4) “Full retail price” means the price the eligible producer posts to the general public at that market on that market day, without discount, rebate, or in-kind reduction of any kind.
(5) “Nutrition benefit” means any federal, State, philanthropic, or clinically issued benefit redeemable for food at a participating market, including nutrition incentive matching, farmers’ market nutrition program coupons, senior farmers’ market nutrition program coupons, and produce prescriptions.
(6) “Participating market” means a farmers market, farm stand, mobile market, or community supported agriculture operation enrolled under this act.
(7) “Recipient member” means a Council member who is currently receiving, or has received within the preceding 24 months, any nutrition benefit.
(a) The Agency shall establish a grant program for the operation of access points at participating markets. A grant may fund point-of-sale and card-reading equipment, coupon reconciliation, staff or stipended volunteer time, signage, translation, and cold storage necessary to the functions of this act.
(b) An access point shall, at minimum:
(1) accept and process every nutrition benefit for which the market is authorized;
(2) issue any incentive match for which a household qualifies at the time of the transaction;
(3) post and distribute the disclosure required under Sec. 7 of this act; and
(4) accept contributions to the community harvest purchase program under Sec. 6 of this act.
(c) An access point shall not maintain a separate queue, token color, receipt, or physical arrangement that identifies a person to other shoppers as a benefit recipient. Tokens and scrip issued under this act shall be visually indistinguishable from those issued to any other customer to the greatest extent the underlying program permits.
(d) A market shall not be required to relinquish, alter, or subordinate its existing agreements with any program in order to host an access point.
(a) There is established a community harvest purchase program under which a member of the public may, at a participating market, direct funds to the purchase of food from an eligible producer for delivery to a food shelf, pantry, senior meal site, or shelter.
(b) The State shall match contributions received under this section, dollar for dollar, from the appropriation made in Sec. 13 of this act, until that appropriation is exhausted.
(c) Funds under this section shall be used solely to purchase food from eligible producers at full retail price. No person administering this program shall request, negotiate, or accept a reduced price, a donation of unsold inventory in lieu of purchase, or any other concession from a producer as a condition of participation.
(d) A Council shall direct purchases under this section so as to maintain a reasonable balance among fresh produce, eggs, dairy, protein, and bread, and shall rotate purchases among participating producers so that no single producer receives a disproportionate share over a season.
(e) Food purchased under this section shall be transferred to the receiving organization on the day of purchase or, where cold chain requires, within 24 hours.
(f) Nothing in this section limits the ability of a producer to donate food voluntarily, and no voluntary donation shall be counted toward a match under subsection (b).
(g) A State agency, contractor, subrecipient, or other entity that is found by a Council, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, to have conditioned market access, program participation, or payment upon a discount, rebate, volume concession, or donation of unsold inventory shall be disqualified from administering or receiving funds under this act for a period of not less than two fiscal years. A Council shall report each disqualification under this subsection in its annual report under Sec. 12 of this act.
(a) The Councils shall jointly develop a single plain-language disclosure that states, for a household of given circumstance, every nutrition benefit the household may hold and use concurrently, the amount of each, where each may be redeemed, and the date each expires.
(b) Each State agency and each entity receiving funds under this act that administers any nutrition benefit shall issue the disclosure at every point of application, enrollment, recertification, and benefit issuance.
(c) No agency or entity receiving funds under this act shall issue a notice describing only the benefit it administers without accompanying that notice with the disclosure required by this section.
(d) The disclosure shall be produced in English, Spanish, and any additional language spoken by more than one percent of households in the region served, and shall be written for a sixth-grade reading level.
(a) The Agency shall establish regional harvest councils corresponding to established agricultural regions of the State. Each Council shall consist of 11 voting members, appointed as follows:
(1) four eligible producers who sell at participating markets in the region, each of whom materially participates in the operation the member represents;
(2) four recipient members, of whom at least one shall be 60 years of age or older, at least one shall be a member of a household enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and at least one shall be a member of a household receiving supplemental nutrition assistance;
(3) two operators of participating markets; and
(4) one representative of a food shelf, pantry, or meal site receiving food under Sec. 6 of this act.
(b) Producers and recipient members shall together constitute not fewer than eight of the 11 voting members at all times. A vacancy shall not be filled in a manner that reduces their combined number below eight.
(c) A person shall not be appointed to a producer seat under subsection (a)(1) of this section if that person’s principal occupation is the representation, lobbying, or governmental affairs work of an agricultural, food industry, retail, health care, or charitable food organization. This subsection does not disqualify a person by reason of ordinary membership in a farm organization or cooperative.
(d) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Food and Markets and of Human Services, and the Commissioner of Health, or their designees, shall serve on each Council as ex officio members. An ex officio member shall not vote, shall not chair, and shall hold no veto over any action of the Council.
(e) Each Council shall elect its chair from among its voting members. A person employed by the State, by a federal agency, or by any entity that receives funds under this act shall not serve as chair.
(f) Members shall serve staggered three-year terms and shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.
(g) Recipient members and producer members shall receive a per diem and reimbursement for travel and, where applicable, dependent care, for each meeting attended.
(h) Meetings of a Council are public meetings and its records are public records.
(a) No nutrition benefit program shall receive preference over another in the allocation of funds, the design of the disclosure required under Sec. 7 of this act, the staffing of an access point, or the order in which benefits are presented to the public.
(b) No State agency, federal agency, food bank, market association, advocacy organization, health care institution, or other recipient of funds under this act shall hold a vote on a Council or exercise a veto over its decisions.
(c) An allocation of funds under this act shall be made by recorded majority vote of a Council in open session. The vote of each member shall be published within 10 days, together with the reasons stated for the allocation.
(d) A member with a financial interest in a matter before the Council shall disclose that interest on the record and shall recuse from the vote. A producer member is not by reason of that membership alone disqualified from selling to the community harvest purchase program, provided the member recuses from any vote directed at that member’s own operation.
(e) Nothing in this act shall be construed to reduce, delay, condition, supplant, or substitute for any benefit available under any federal or State program, and no funds under this act shall be used to offset a reduction in any such program.
(a) An eligible producer, participating market, Council, receiving organization, employee, or volunteer that in good faith donates, purchases, transports, or distributes apparently wholesome food under this act shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of that food.
(b) This section shall be construed consistently with, and not in limitation of, the protections afforded by 42 U.S.C. § 1791.
(c) This section does not apply to an act or omission constituting gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
(a) The Agency is authorized to enter into agreements with the corresponding agencies of adjoining states for the coordination of access points, disclosures, and outreach within shared economic corridors, including the Connecticut River corridor.
(b) An agreement under this section may provide for reciprocal recognition of access point operator training, joint production of the disclosure required under Sec. 7 of this act, shared media purchasing, and a joint annual report.
(c) Nothing in this section authorizes the transfer of State funds to another state or the redemption of a State-funded benefit outside this State.
(a) Each Council shall report annually to the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture and on Human Services. The report shall state:
(1) total dollars paid to eligible producers under this act, reported by market and by producer;
(2) the number of distinct producers receiving payment;
(3) households served, by benefit type;
(4) the concurrent use rate, being the proportion of households at an access point that redeemed or received more than one nutrition benefit in a single visit;
(5) the value of coupons issued in the region that expired unredeemed; and
(6) the number of households turned away because a fixed allocation had been exhausted, and the date of exhaustion.
(b) Each Council shall hold not fewer than one public hearing annually in the region it serves at which producers and recipients may testify. Minutes shall be published and transmitted with the report required under subsection (a).
There is appropriated to the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets from the General Fund in fiscal year 20__ the sum of $750,000, to be allocated as follows:
| Access point grants under Sec. 5 | $250,000 |
| Community harvest purchase match under Sec. 6 | $400,000 |
| Council operations, per diem, and travel under Sec. 8 | $60,000 |
| Disclosure development, translation, and printing under Sec. 7 | $40,000 |
| Total | $750,000 |
Funds appropriated under this section shall not lapse at the close of the fiscal year and shall remain available for the succeeding fiscal year.
Beginning in the fiscal year following the effective date of this act, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the sums appropriated under this section shall be adjusted by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, Food at Home, Northeast Region, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the preceding calendar year. An adjustment under this paragraph shall not reduce the appropriation below the amounts stated in this section.
This act shall take effect on July 1, 20__.
Appendix A
The convergence that this bill is built on. Read the right-hand column down.
| Stream | Who pays | What it buys | How it ends | The farm gets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrition incentive match at market | Federal, State, and philanthropic funds | Produce, herbs, seeds, plant starts | Annual appropriation; not in base budget | Full retail |
| WIC farmers’ market coupons | USDA through a State agency | Fresh produce and herbs | Fixed pot; first come, first served | Full retail |
| Senior farmers’ market coupons | USDA through a State agency | Produce, herbs, honey | Fixed pot; commonly gone by August | Full retail |
| Produce prescription | Health care and philanthropy | Clinician-directed produce | Grant cycle; program by program | Full retail |
| Community harvest purchase | A neighbor standing at the market | Produce, eggs, dairy, protein, bread | Runs as long as people give | Full retail |
Five payers. Five sets of paperwork. Five administering authorities. One transaction, and one outcome for the farm. The bill does not merge the programs — it merges the counter.
Appendix B
One page. What it does, what it costs, who decides, and what it does not do.
What it does. It puts one staffed table at the farmers market where every nutrition benefit is handled in a single interaction; it requires every agency to tell a household everything it can use rather than only its own program; and it matches neighbor contributions to buy food from local farms, at the price the farm charges everyone else, for delivery to food shelves that same day.
What it costs. $750,000, of which $400,000 is a dollar-for-dollar match that only spends when a resident spends first. Every dollar of the purchase program lands in a local farm’s till at retail. The appropriation is indexed to Northeast food-at-home inflation so its purchasing power holds.
Who decides. Eight of eleven votes on each regional council belong to farmers and to people who receive the benefits. Producer seats require material participation in the farm, and are closed to anyone whose principal occupation is lobbying or governmental affairs for an agricultural, food industry, retail, health care, or charitable food organization. Agencies sit at the table, advise, and do not vote. No program, food bank, hospital, or association holds a veto. Allocations are made by recorded vote in public and published with each member’s name.
How the farm is protected. “Eligible producer” is drawn tightly: production in Vermont or within 30 miles of the border, material participation by a real operator, and no more than a quarter of what is offered bought in for resale — so an out-of-State broker cannot repackage its way into this money. Any agency or contractor that leans on a farmer for a discount or a donation of unsold inventory is barred from the program for two fiscal years. And the appropriation is indexed to Northeast food-at-home inflation, so rising input costs do not quietly shrink what the program buys.
What it does not do. It creates no new benefit, merges no existing program, and takes no authority from any agency over the program that agency administers. Sec. 9(e) states expressly that nothing in the act may reduce or supplant any existing benefit.
Why now.
The question for the committee. Every one of these programs already pays a Vermont farm full price to feed a Vermont household. The only thing the State has never funded is the table where a person can find out that all of them exist.
Prepared and submitted by
Jason Coplan
Chief Consultant · DCwebpro Ltd. Co.
413 Sweet Pond Road
Guilford, Vermont 05301
802-254-5475
its@dcwebpro.com
This draft is offered for legislative consideration. Findings in Sec. 2 are drawn from published State and federal program materials, legislative testimony, and administering agency reporting; sponsors should confirm current-year figures with the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Department for Children and Families before introduction. Section numbering, appropriation year, and effective date are left open for the drafting office.