Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
Perhaps it’s not surprising that the state that pioneered the local farm-to-table movement has an app that is of, by and for Vermonters.
Local food entrepreneur Senator Rocket launched the Eat Vermont mobile app about a year ago. It aggregates and compiles information on restaurants, menus, and community events around the state, searchable by town.
According to Rocket, Eat Vermont is also an “ecosystem” consisting of a newsletter, website, and social media presence. His mission: keep food in Vermont independent and local.
“I tell stories about the Vermont food system,” he said. “All Vermont, only Vermont.”
The app also contains a day trip builder–users can choose a town they’re visiting and have the app design an itinerary for them based on available restaurants and other points of interest, such as museums and hikes.
“It’s a really fast way to be able to flip through a taste of the town without having to do a ton of research,” Rocket said.
The app is free, but purchasing a membership gives users added perks: access to private newsletters, discounts at certain restaurants, and secret menu items only members can order.
Membership is priced at $48 per year, or $8 a month for a short-term pass. Individuals working in the small business food industry around Vermont get free memberships.
The app is now on around 7,500 phones across the state, Rocket estimated. But that’s not the most important metric to him.
“The only thing I care about at the end is: do people go and eat the food?” he said. “Usage doesn’t matter to me, engagement doesn’t matter to me, shares don’t matter…those are all just mental metrics.”
Another goal for the app is to support local, small business owners, who are under constant threat from national chains, Rocket said.
“Corporate America thrives because they have power, money, and access to resources that small businesses don’t,” he said. “If you open a small restaurant, you have to do your own branding, your own marketing, your own menu…all of these things that [a franchise] doesn’t need to do.”
Rocket’s mission to raise awareness of these challenges has been largely successful, said Melissa Pasanen, Seven Days food and drink assignment editor. It taps into the small and independent character of Vermont’s food system.
“Vermont is known for its working landscape, its agriculture,” she said. “I think that is something [many] people know of…there is a sense that Vermont is more farm to table, more artisan.”
She added that she sees many Vermonters wanting to support this system, theorizing it traces back to Vermont’s agricultural and rural heritage.
“Naturally, people were eating what either they or their neighbors produced,” she said.
In larger places like New York City, certain restaurants benefit from viral online or “TikTok” moments, but that’s less likely in Vermont, she said.
“It’s helpful to be able to use [social media] as one of the tools in your toolbelt, to get the word out, but it’s not going to solve everything,” she said.
The Eat Vermont app is helping to increase business at Vergennes Laundry, according to bakery owner Nadia Dole.
She enjoys creating special dishes for Eat Vermont members as a fun, creative outlet. Meanwhile, the app is helping to build a network of restaurant owners to support one another.
“Business to business, it introduces me to people in other parts of Vermont that are doing what we’re doing in a very difficult time,” Dole said.
She thinks the app will be contagious, and other states will want to implement something similar.
“The app is going to the far corners of Vermont, sleepy towns where you think there’s nothing,” Dole said. “[Rocket] has created a community, and it feels like it’s here to stay.”