09/25/2026
I grew up on an apple orchard across Lake Champlain. My dad was a small business owner and a community leader, from whom I learned the value of hard work, service, connection, and commitment. The migrant workers who returned each year to help us bring in the crops became part of our family.
When my parents eventually sold the orchard, we felt the loss of that connection to the land and the people who had shaped our family story.
Our farming families have faced extraordinary challenges in recent years — historic floods, rising fuel and production costs, migrant workers being taken by ICE, and the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Food insecurity also remains a reality for too many Vermonters, something I’ve seen firsthand through my time as a Meals on Wheels volunteer.
In the Legislature, I’ll champion universal school meals and stronger connections between our farms, families and schools.
We must make sure that landowners’, farmers’ and foresters’ voices and experiences are strongly considered and centered in the Legislature’s work.
