Farm to School Programs for Large Institutions
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Hello All,
I've been tasked to looking into on going Farm to School Programs within the context of a large organization. Here at Penn State's University Park Campus there is interest in developing a program. However we are running into supply issues. It makes more sense for local farmers to sell to say 100 different families then 1 large institution at a reduced rate. I'm wondering how others have handled this supply/demand issue and what other alternatives may be. Any information or direction to other sources would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Jeremy Bean
Jeremy,
I definitely agree with Kristen. In Maine, we have a wholesale business called "Native Maine" who make purchasing local a lot easier. Even Sysco provides local lists if you ask for them. We've been quite successful at the University of Southern Maine implementing a similar program with this approach. Good luck!
Kristen and Kayla,
Thanks for the information it's much appreciated. Kayla I'd love to hear more about what Southern Maine is doing. Here's my email if you could contact me that would be great. We are on the process to see what we can make work, I've had meetings with our purchasing folks and am not meeting with local farmers. The price point is definitely one of the sticking points so we are advocating a consortium of sorts that might help them organize and be able to provide what we need. We'll see how it goes.
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Hi Jeremy,
What size are the farms you are contacting? It sounds like these are farms with CSA's? I would recommend working with larger-scale farms, that are used to selling through wholesale markets vs farms that are doing direct marketing. Farms that sell through wholesale channels will be better equipped to sell to a large market like Penn State, and may receive a better rate from Penn State than from their other wholesale channels. Feel free to contact me for further ideas,
Best,
Kristen Markley
Community Food Security Coalition
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
717-240-1361
kristen@foodsecurity.org
www.farmtocollege.org