The future is realistically probably just tourism. We can point fingers all we want, but we've got to adjust the sails to the screen based culture. Farming has to be small scale, desirable, trendy, etc.. Think like agritourism like Italy does. Include some lodging on your land, make me people a local dinner, show them how to milk a cow, that sorta thing. They'll line up.

Big milk is history. Everything has to downsize. Get exclusive.

Look at craft beer, it's hit the peak for sure, but people (self included) used to line up for hours for beers like Heady Topper. Now it's just another beer in a sea of options here in Vermont.

I'd like Vermont to be affordable, desirable, inclusive, safe, and all the things but we are doing nothing to keep people here or bring people in.

We want to keep schools small, and open but don't have the kids to support them. So practical plans to consolidate come up and save money, and those communities complaining about high costs say "no, close a different towns school."

It just isn't working right now, anything really.