When was the last time a teenager planned something for you? Was it a meal? A vacation? It can be hard for adults to hold back the “helpful suggestions” or comments when supervising a student project. However, when we stand back and let youth lead, the results can blow you away. This month, I had the pleasure of being an adult participant at a youth-led conference, stepping back to witness Vermont students shine.
In 2025, for the third year in a row, five students from across Vermont met online every Monday for months to plan a youth-organized conference with keynote speakers and workshops.
The result was the third annual FEAST conference (Food Education And Sustainable Thinking), hosted at American Flatbread at Lareau Farms in Waitsfield, VT.
It was planned and hosted by five students from high schools across Vermont: Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Harwood Union High School in Duxbury, Leland and Gray High School in Townshend, and Middlebury Union High School.
Video of 2024 FEAST activities
This year the student leaders chose to invite a keynote speaker from Migrant Justice, a local Vermont organization advocating for workers’ rights in Vermont.
FEAST’s youth planners identified and invited collaboration with an important ally, Migrant Justice, connecting our students to real-life experiences in Vermont’s farms and food systems. Migrant Justice connects community members with farm workers.
Enrique Balcazar spoke about his experience working on dairy farms in Vermont. For any students wondering “what do I do?” or “how do I help?” to strengthen our local food system, Enrique shared the steps that his organization took when fighting for Milk With Dignity, to demonstrate how to build support from within a community and also how to persist with one’s goals even when there are setbacks..
In the case of the Milk With Dignity campaign, first Migrant Justice made agreements with farm owners who would promise to protect good working conditions for their employees. They then contacted Ben and Jerry’s to ask that they only buy from farmers who were proven to respect workers rights. Finally, when Ben and Jerry’s wasn’t interested, they rallied, collected signatures, and gained support until Ben and Jerry’s changed their mind. Now Migrant Justice is asking Hannafords to join the Milk With Dignity program and rallying support for this movement.
After the keynote, attendees joined student-run workshops.
These workshops were planned and run by students! Many of these workshops featured hands-on activities and take home projects, like succulents, mushroom grow-kits, and letters to state representatives. 2025’s workshops were:
Food Systems of the Future & Mushrooms by Pacem School
Legislative Advocacy by Harwood Union High School Youth Lobby
Creamery Considerations & Cheese Tasting by North Country Career Center
Micro-goat Dairy Farming by White River Valley High School
AI, Climate Change, and Water Usage by Champlain Valley Union High School Sustainability Club
Sustainable Practices in Maple Sugaring by Harwood Union High School
Farm Tour and Work by Lareau Farm
Tortilla-making from Scratch by Montpelier High School
There were also two workshops for adults. These helped create youth spaces free from adult oversight, while simultaneously providing engaging workshops for the supporting adults. Those workshops were:
“Community Based Learning for High School students” by Jessa Harger, Leland and Gray High School
“Felting 101” by Elyse Perambo, Green Mountain Farm to School
As a closing activity, students made seed-bombs and took home free seeds. It was lovely to see students motivated, excited, and happy. Many look forward to joining again next year. If you are interested in being part of the planning committee for FEAST 2026, email adelaide@foodconnects.org.
Vermont Agriculture Updates:
As an update, recently Migrant Justice activists and farm workers have been taken into custody by ICE, in some instances violently.
Enrique, the keynote speaker for FEAST 2025, spoke at a rally on June 16th urging the release of two Migrant Justice activists: Nacho, a local activist with Migrant Justice, and Heidi, an 18 year old youth activist and recent graduate from Milton High School. They were delivering meals to farm workers in Franklin Country when they were stopped and taken into custody. Nacho and Heidi now risk transfer to out-of-state detention centers in Louisiana or Texas, taking them further away from their family and legal teams.
