Specialty food makers, retailers, and consumers in Vermont are bracing for more rainfall after heavy downpours earlier this week caused widespread flooding and damage.
The Woodstock, Vermont location of Woodstock Farmers’ Market was flooded on Monday and could be closed for weeks, said Amelia Rappaport, minister of culture at the specialty food retailer.
“The community has been phenomenal,” she told SFA News Daily. “Dozens of people have come in and helped, doing whatever they can, and it’s been heartwarming.”
Staffers at first tried to divert water from the rising Ottauquechee River, but by late Monday afternoon, the area had to be evacuated. The store had been through flooding before when Hurricane Irene hit the area in 2011, and Rappaport said this time the company was better prepared. It was able to move its cash registers and other electronics to a higher floor and relocate food items to higher shelves, which she said helped minimize losses.
In addition, Rappaport secured the help of a local member of the community who works with food banks and other nonprofits in the area to coordinate the donation of perishables—mostly produce, dairy, and some chicken—from the store.
Power was restored quickly, and by Tuesday morning a small army of staffers and local volunteers were on hand helping the store sort through the mess.
“We are in the cleanup phase, looking at what can be salvaged and what cannot,” said Rappaport. “It’s remarkable how much we got accomplished in the last two days.”
The company was still evaluating how much damage was done to the structure of the building and the equipment.
“We’re taking it day by day,” said Rappaport. “We would like to be open again as quickly as we can, not just for our community, but also for our staff and our vendors.”
She said it did not appear that the damage was as severe as in 2011, when the store was closed for 11 weeks. The company’s other retail store, in Waterbury, Vermont, was not damaged by the flooding.
Several specialty food makers and suppliers were also impacted by the flooding, either by direct water damage or because of delivery delays caused by road closures.
At Websterville, Vermont-based Vermont Creamery, for example, Kara Young, communications and outreach specialist, said the rural roads that its dairy farmers use to transport milk to the creamery “have been a big challenge.”
“We are doing our very best to reach every farm to pick up their milk prior to spoiling and prior to them reaching storage capacity,” she said, thanking the company’s milk haulers for their efforts under challenging conditions. “The cows and goats still produce milk even when it cannot be picked up, and the last thing we want to do is let their precious milk go to waste.”
Vermont Creamery has been in touch with its dairy farmers, and “most are doing OK,” said Young.
“Right now we are focused on the safety of our employees, and encouraging them to take advantage of their paid volunteer time to help in the recovery efforts,” she said. “This will be a long road, but Vermonters have incredible spirit and resilience and we will navigate this together as a business and a community.”
Specialty cheesemaker Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont, said it was facing challenges getting product to its customers because of road closures across the state.
“We’re going to do our absolute best to get cheese out into the world, but please be patient with us,” the company said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “With many of the thoroughfares washed out to and from our fulfillment hub in Hardwick {Vermont], we are bound to experience delays. We’re going to focus on feeding the community, making sure the cheese gets cared for, and that the herd is safe.”
New York-based specialty cheese retailer Murray’s Cheese promoted a Vermont Community Foundation fundraising effort for flood relief in Vermont, citing the needs of its cheese suppliers there, including Vermont Creamery and Jasper Hill Farm. Murray’s also encouraged customers to shop for products from Vermont-based cheese suppliers.
“Help support local producers and businesses now more than ever,” Murray’s Cheese said on its website.
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