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VFN Culinary Membership Form

UPDATED FOR 2023

Thank you for being a part of the Vermont Fresh Network!

Directions

Note that the form cannot be saved midway through completion and it appears longer than it is because of the member list.

RENEWING:  Please fill out the short list of required fields and only anything that has changed or that you'd like to edit.

Unfortunately, the form does not auto-fill your previous entries, but we have them in our database. Your entries here will over-ride what we have saved, so please do not write a couple words ("full service restaurant," for example) in the descrtiption field - it will take the place of the nice paragraph about your business on our website! Only update what needs updating.

Please check the partners - we add to the list monthly!

NEW MEMBERS:  Please fill this form out as thoroughly as possible. Much of this information populates your directory listing.

If you have been a member before, choose Renewing (even if your membership has lapsed).

Basic Contact Information





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We send updates & member newsletters with events, webinars, workshops, etc. relevant to VFN members. Please add e-mails of any staff (beyond the admin contact already listed) who should receive this update (manager, owner, chef, etc.) or serve as secondary contacts for your membership.





Public Directory Information

Additional contact & business details for the public directory

For display in a public directory listing - several sentences to describe your business (third person preferred). *Leave blank if renewing and current description on vermontfresh.net is satisfactory.
DigInVT.com is the collaborative food & agritourism website managed by VFN. If you are open to the public, the default is to be listed here (listing is free and part of membership), please check if you would like to opt out.


E-mail for customers to contact


Please include full website link. Example: http://vermontfresh.net/

Please include full website link. Example: https://www.facebook.com/VermontFreshNetwork/

Please include full website link. Example: https://www.instagram.com/diginvt/

Please include full website link. Example: https://twitter.com/diginvt

Please input the hours you are open to the public - leave blank if not applicable.
Please select all that apply - this is a primary search field for the directory.
Check all that apply:

Uploads


This will appear in the Business-to-Business Directory at VermontFresh.net.

IMPORTANT: Landscape/horizontal only, please. Larger images will be cropped and resized to fit 800px wide by 450px high. Smaller images will not display well. Please do not send files over 1MB.

Business Directory Information

This information is for the members-only part of the directory and intended to help producers search and navigate the restaurant / chef market.
Check all that apply - note this does not have to be what you currently purchase, it's what you *want* to purchase:
Select one:

If you are open to direct purchases for certain categories / items, please list.

If you accept direct sales, please list the best contact for sellers in the departments where you accept inquiries. Please include name, department, best contact (phone number or e-mail address) and best times of day / days of the week for contacting.
Membership Criteria

Culinary businesses must meet the following criteria to qualify for partner membership. There are 4 areas for qualification:

1. Partnerships: Members must regularly source food from farms in Vermont (+30 miles) and source from at least 4 VFN Members.

2. Purchases: 15%* or more of annual food purchases must be Vermont (+30) grown or raised food. 

3. Diversity of Vermont Food: Members' regular menus must contain local products in 3 of the 6 USDA food groups.

4. Participation: Members are engaged in local food system work, and attend (or host) at least one relevant event each year. 

Answers to the following questions are for office use only and not published. If you don't currently meet Partner Member criteria, a Supporting Member option is also available - in the case of restaurants not yet open, a Supporting Membership is recommended, and the cost will be discounted from dues if you join within the year. 

Gold Barn membership signifies the top local food purchases in VFN and is automatically calculated from these answers. Details on the current Gold Barn criteria are available online. 

*10% is the threshold for health care institutions and schools.


Or of time in operation if open less than a year.

We define this as Vermont plus 30 miles. This self-reported information is part of our verification process and is not shared with anyone.
Your regular menu must contain Vermont (+30) products in 3 of 6 USDA food groups. Check all that apply.

Provide a link to your menu here - if the use of local foods won't be obvious on your normal menu, please see next question.

If use of local food across categories won't be clear from materials available online, please enter here examples of regular dishes that demonstrate diverse use of local ingredients.
Check all VFN partners that you regularly purchase from. If you are renewing, check partners that are *new* from last year - there is a space following the list to indicate any partners to remove. We send all partners an automated e-mail to verify purchasing when we process your renewal. We update this list monthly with new members.

Please add additional local farms you source from or distributors from whom you source local food.

If you have *stopped* purchasing from a previous partner, please indicate here and we will remove them from your partners list.

We recognize that smaller businesses may be sourcing a significant percentage of food from their own production. Farm stays, for example, that build their culinary experience around food from their own land and their immediate neighbors. Please indicate your use of hyperlocal sourcing here if applicable.

Membership Dues

Please see the membership levels below. Membership dues cover one year from the month when Partner Membership begins. Please note that they are not refundable. If you would like to pay by check or have a question about the amount, please submit this form and contact us.