Floating farmers market to revive historic trade route
A trade route used by the Mohawks, missionaries, fur traders and colonists will take a step toward revival this weekend as the Vermont Sail Freight Project embarks on a 330-mile journey downriver, stopping at historic river towns along the Hudson. They'll pick up cargo from 30 farmers and sell it at pop-up markets on its way to New York.
"We're trying to rebuild a whole sector that's been decimated and open new opportunities for young farmers and rebuild a whole aspect of the culture that's very nearly been lost entirely," said project director Erik Andrus, who also farms rice and grass-fed beef at Boundbrook Farm in Ferrisburgh, Vt.
The crowdfunded sailing barge, Ceres, will ply the Lake Champlain-Hudson River Route from Shoreham, Vt., to New York City.
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The Vermont Sail project will have its official send-off this Sunday and finish in New York on Oct. 27. The Ceres will return to Vermont and plan for a regular season of runs after the winter. If they're successful, it will add boats and river routes.
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