Posts by Jake Claro

ake joined the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund in 2012 to support the Farm to Plate website and Farm to Plate Network groups as well as contribute to the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan. In 2017 he was promoted to Farm to Plate Director and is responsible for providing facilitative leadership and strategic coordination for the Farm to Plate Network’s work to implement Vermont’s food system plan. He manages the Farm to Plate team at VSJF and works to align activity among 350 stakeholders and increase collaboration between private sector, nonprofits, and government to strengthen Vermont’s farm and food economy for the benefit of all Vermonters. Previously he served as an AmeriCorps member with the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and the Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network (VECAN) as a community energy and climate action organizer. At VNRC, Jake worked closely with town energy committees across the state on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy planning issues. Jake has an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Fordham University and still enjoys, time permitting, waxing philosophical. He received a Master of Science in environmental policy from Bard College and his thesis focused on the value of ecosystem services from farmland in Vermont. Jake serves on the Hunger Mountain Coop Community Fund Committee and the Sodexo Vermont First Advisory Board. Originally from Sunderland, he lives in Barre with his wife Reed, daughter and two orange cats.