Michael Kane

What do you believe is the role of state government, if any, in ensuring that everyone living in Vermont has the food they need to thrive?

Vermonters should have access to enough nutritious food to thrive, food insecurity is harder to solve without state intervention. We can make sure no one falls through the cracks when wages are low, prices rise, or stores are miles away.

We should treat food as a root cause for health, learning, and economic stability; supporting SNAP, school meals, strengthening food pantries, helping seniors and people with disabilities get food delivered, and investing in regional food systems so rural towns are not isolated from affordable options. It also means supporting farmers and small food businesses, so the state’s food supply is more resilient and more local.

Food security should be preventive, reducing the causes of hunger by supporting good agriculture wages, affordable housing, childcare, and healthcare. In a rural state like Vermont, that also means expanding access in practical ways: school meals and community-based distribution which reach people where they live.

What would be your policy priorities to move Vermont toward food security for all?

My priorities would be to build upon Vermont’s strongest tools: protect Universal School Meals, expand SNAP and Farm to Family-style incentives, and fully fund programs that connect local farms to schools, hospitals, and food shelves. I would also invest in rural food access—mobile markets, regional food hubs, delivery for seniors and people with disabilities, and support for small grocers in under-served towns. To make food security lasting, I’d pair these with policies that lower the cost of living: affordable housing, higher wages, affordable childcare, utilities, and healthcare. Finally, I’d strengthen farm resilience through land access, climate adaptation, and Healthcare cost reduction legislation so Vermont farmers can stay in business and keep local food flowing.

What do you believe are the root causes of hunger, and what should the state do to address those underlying factors?

The root causes of hunger are low wages, high housing costs, expensive transportation, healthcare bills, and high utility costs. Hunger is usually a symptom of economic insecurity, not personal failure. When people are forced to choose between rent, gas, and healthcare, they are forced to choose to get by with fewer meals and less healthy options.

We should address hunger at its source by raising the minimum wage, protecting tenants rights, expanding affordable owner-occupied housing, lowering utility and healthcare costs, and improving grocery choices in rural areas. We should also strengthen childcare, paid family leave, and job training so families can build stable economic bases. Food programs matter, but they work best when paired with policies that make daily life affordable. A just Vermont is one where people can meet basic needs without sacrificing nutrition.

How would you help strengthen the state’s agriculture and food economy to ensure Vermont farms can continue to grow the food we all need?

We cannot rely on the federal government and large-scale agri-business to support local farmers. I want to see more programs which put local products into local restaurants, local schools, and local homes. I want to see our farmers succeed without relying on programs which can be taken away by an arbitrary White House with uncertain trade policies or regulations.

We need to make sure that our farmers are able to expand their operations, we need to make sure that they are able to hire the workers they need at wages which support families, and we need to make sure that our consumers are able to buy local.

This is a huge undertaking, but by cutting health insurance costs for producers and consumers, by making sure that farms and homes are able to cut costs using solar and wind, and through state policies which promote home ownership we can make the agriculture economy strong enough to promote local consumption of locally produced food.