How Common Roots Is Rethinking Food Access in Vermont

Carol McQuillen was teaching kindergarten and first grade at Orchard School in South Burlington when she started noticing what she called “the crash.” “The kids would go to breakfast and get sausage on a stick covered in grease, tater tots, hot chocolate and Pop-Tarts. This wasn’t the fault of the nutritional staff, but it was a barrier to learning and concentration,” McQuillen said. By 9:30, her students lost focus. 

“Sadly, the highest-need kids in general are the ones that rely on school breakfast, so that wasn’t a good trajectory for their day and habits,” she added.

McQuillen described this problem in 2007 when she began meeting with 35 other South Burlington teachers, parents and health professionals about school food. 

She and her team realized that children needed to learn how to nourish themselves as a basic life skill. “Nutrition education is an important part of building lifelong healthy habits,” McQuillen said. 

They made a plan for healthier school lunches that the school board accepted, but the participants soon realized that healthier school meals alone would not solve the deeper challenges affecting children’s health, nutrition and access to quality food. That realization would eventually lead to the creation of Common Roots, a South Burlington nonprofit that connects organic farming, food access and nutrition education to help build a healthier local food system. 

When Common Roots became a nonprofit in 2009, the country was in the throes of the Great Recession, a time of increased need. Simultaneously, local educators, parents and community members were becoming increasingly concerned about nutrition, food access and community health.

In its early years, Common Roots helped address food insecurity through a weekly food-share program that served 40 South Burlington families. When the South Burlington Food Shelf opened in November 2019, just months before the pandemic, Common Roots became one of its key partners, providing fresh produce, prepared meals, nutrition education and ongoing support.

Today, Common Roots teaches children and families how to grow, prepare and enjoy healthy meals; provides Farm to School nutrition education in more than 70 classrooms; grows food on two urban farms; supports local food shelves with fresh produce and prepared meals; and operates a community farmstand that helps connect residents with locally grown food.

“The challenges facing families today are not isolated problems,” said executive director Rob Fish, who took the helm in 2026. “Food security, nutrition education, public health and local agriculture are all connected. Common Roots works at the intersection of those issues, helping create a stronger and more resilient South Burlington.”

The organization’s work illustrates that connection: Food grown on the farm supplies the farmstand, nutrition education programs, prepared meals and food shelf partnerships. Students learn where food comes from and how to prepare it, while families gain greater access to fresh, locally grown produce.

Revenue generated through farmstand sales, community meals and catering helps support the farming and educational programs that make the organization’s broader mission possible.

“There’s a big difference between feeding people and nourishing people,” McQuillen clarified, discussing the organization’s mission. “All of these things — farming, education and food access — ideally exist together to build a healthy community.”

Rethinking Food Access

When Common Roots formed in 2009, there was no food shelf in South Burlington. One way the organization fed families was through a partnership program with local schools. 

McQuillen worked with South Burlington school administrators and child advocacy teams to select 40 households to be candidates for a food-share program. Every week, those families could pick up boxes full of food from the Common Roots farm and other local donors. “More than 40 families needed our help, but this was all we had the capacity for,” McQuillen explained. 

The food shelf opened a decade later, in November 2019, just a few months before the pandemic. It was perfect timing, said South Burlington Food Shelf director Peter Carmolli, because soon people were struggling. 

During lockdown, Carmolli would bring a paper menu out to people’s cars so they could check off the items they wanted, after which volunteers “shopped” for them and brought food to their cars. Now, post-pandemic, people shop inside the food shelf with the help of volunteer guides. 

On a Saturday in early May, people lined up outside the food shelf to check out the free plant starters that Common Roots had supplied. Their faces lit up when they saw the beginnings of tomatoes, chard and lettuce. One woman thoughtfully selected a large bagful of spring scallions from the Common Roots table. “I can make my favorite foods with these,” she said.

Carmolli is proud of the quality of what’s on offer there. “We get some of the best produce available anywhere,” he said. “The freshness and quality of the food Common Roots provides are exceptional, and our food shelf would be a very different place without their partnership. Just because someone needs a little help accessing food doesn’t mean they should receive lower-quality food.” 

For many families, access to fresh food is only part of the story; even when produce is available, low-income households are likely to rely on cheaper, less nutritious items and may skip meals.

That’s why, in addition to donating plant starters and fresh produce to the food shelf, Common Roots employs an executive chef, Anthony Jones, who, with interns and volunteers, makes ready-made nutritious meals for people to take home. Interns and volunteers at the food shelf explain the meals, side dishes and farm-fresh produce. 

Said one food shelf participant: “What stood out to me wasn’t just receiving food. It was getting fresh vegetables and meals that felt healthy, welcoming and dignified. It made a real difference for our family.”

Rising housing costs, grocery prices and other household expenses continue to place pressure on many Vermont families, contributing to growing demand for food assistance throughout South Burlington. In 2025, 748 households representing 1,736 individuals, including 487 children, received support through the South Burlington Food Shelf. Common Roots contributed more than 16,000 pounds of certified organic produce and prepared meals, valued at approximately $90,800. Vermont Foodbank and Intervale Food Hub also gleaned an additional 3,500 pounds of fresh food from the Common Roots farm at South Village, ensuring that surplus harvests continued to nourish families throughout the region. 

A System From Soil to Plate

Drive to South Village in South Burlington and follow the short gravel road to see the center of the Common Roots farm. Its farmers grow vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, peas and peppers, all of which show up at the South Burlington Food Shelf; in meals created by the Common Roots chef; and at the nearby farmstand. Anyone can shop there or purchase a Nourish Card, which is loaded with prepaid credits. The card provides a revenue source that the farm can rely on. 

“The farm plays an important role in providing food for that particular region,” said Anson Tebbetts, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. “It feeds two audiences: one that has enough income to purchase the food and another that provides food for those who are in need.”

Beyond food access, Common Roots also contributes to the strength of the state’s local food economy. The organization often describes its work as a system that connects soil to plate. By producing food locally, training future farmers and food-system professionals, supporting local purchasing, and keeping food dollars circulating within the region, the organization helps build greater community resilience.

In a time of rising food costs and increasing pressure on food assistance programs, local food production plays an increasingly important role in strengthening communities.

This time of year, you’d have a difficult time driving up to the farm without running into Colin O’Brien, the farm manager. During the spring and early summer, he works long hours — sometimes arriving by 7 a.m. and staying until after 8 p.m. 

O’Brien graduated from Saint Michael’s College in 2019 with a degree in environmental studies. He worked at Pitchfork Farm in Burlington’s Intervale until 2022, when he started at Common Roots. Since his arrival, O’Brien has grown the Common Roots farm, hiring two dedicated staff members and managing interns and volunteers. The harvest has expanded as well, with additions such as a strawberry field and an apple orchard. 

The farmstand, O’Brien said, is a pretty special thing. The average distance food has traveled by the time you purchase it in a grocery store is 1,500 miles, but he can count the steps it took to bring food to the stand from the farm — on foot, without using fossil fuels. 

“Every season we’re balancing soil health, food production, education and community needs,” he said. “What makes Common Roots unique is that everything we grow supports a larger mission. The food doesn’t just leave the farm. It becomes meals, education, food shelf donations and opportunities for people to connect with where their food comes from.”

The farm is also a classroom, and groups from local schools often come for tours. Every semester, the farmers welcome a group of interns from the University of Vermont. That’s how Common Roots board chair Noah Gilbert-Fuller first discovered the organization. 

As an intern, he helped with classroom education at South Burlington schools, and he remembers watching kids who had never even seen a carrot learn to like those vegetables.

Parents often see the impact continue at home.

“My children like trying new foods at school with their friends. I’ve seen an increased interest in food, nutrition and cooking at home,” said Morgan Rainville, whose sons participate in Common Roots’ Farm to School program.

That program is provided at no cost to the South Burlington School District. Common Roots raises private philanthropic support and community donations to ensure that every elementary school student can participate in hands-on nutrition education regardless of school budgets. With the help of interns, staff and volunteers, Common Roots has provided more than 180,000 nutrition education experiences for children through Farm to School and helped middle school students prepare more than 15,000 meals for their families through its Farm to Go culinary program.

“Not too many students are actively on a farm these days,” Tebbetts said. “So this kind of education must occur so people understand what it takes to grow our food.”

After his internship ended, Gilbert-Fuller continued to volunteer with Common Roots, helping out wherever he was needed. When he graduated from UVM with a degree in public policy, he got a job in the water quality division in the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. 

“I work with all towns and lots of small farmers, and engaging with Common Roots helps keep me connected with where people are getting their food,” he said.

Gilbert-Fuller sees the impact of Common Roots’ work whenever he volunteers in the kitchen with chef Jones, or “Chef Tony.” On Fridays, Chef Tony makes flatbreads with fresh ingredients from the farm for pickup, often with Gilbert-Fuller’s help. Those flatbreads are available at the food shelf on Saturday. 

“So much of showing people the power of organic food is preparing it well, so seeing the food we grew on the farm transform into a nutritious and delicious meal is the most convincing thing we have,” Gilbert-Fuller said.  

Everyone Can Play a Role

Common Roots has come a long way since McQuillen first became concerned about the quality of school food and the long-term health impacts of poor nutrition. Nearly two decades after founding Common Roots, she’s encouraged by the growing collaborations among farmers, schools, food service professionals, community organizations and families. It’s a good sign for the future of food education and food access in Vermont. 

In the South Burlington School District, director of nutritional services Rhonda Ketner has earned statewide recognition for sourcing one of the highest percentages of local food in Vermont schools, with approximately 26 percent of purchases coming from local producers. Students now have access to Vermont-raised beef, local eggs, apples, maple syrup, cheese and other locally sourced ingredients.

“All the time, kids are faced with commercials for sugary cereals and other highly processed foods,” McQuillen said. “But we can make a difference in our community by giving kids and families access to nourishing food and showing them how to prepare and enjoy it.”

To that end, Common Roots is working to strengthen the connections between farms, schools, food shelves, community kitchens and households so that healthy local food becomes a more consistent part of everyday life. It’s now collaborating with Burlington’s King Street Center to help provide food for families there, ensuring that healthy, locally grown food reaches those who need it most.

Director Fish said that, as Common Roots enters its next chapter, the organization is focused on ensuring that every aspect of its work remains sustainable and accessible. “Our goal is to strengthen the systems that support healthy communities, from the farm field to the classroom to the dinner table,” he said.

There are lots of ways to help.

“Farmers, volunteers, schools, donors, businesses and families all have a role to play in building a healthier food system,” he said. “The need for this work has never been greater, but what’s encouraging is how many people want to be part of the solution.”