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About the Farm to Institution Project
Mission
The Fair Food Farm to Institution project works to build relationships between farmers and institutions in the Philadelphia area, develop strong markets for food that has been grown and produced on local farms, and help institutions successfully incorporate that high quality food into their dining services.
The History
The Farm to Institution (FTI) project was launched in spring of 2006 at the request of a major funder, the Claneil Foundation, seeking to capitalize on Fair Food’s history of success in connecting family farmers to the Philadelphia wholesale marketplace. FTI lead us to expand beyond our customary work with restaurants, grocery stores and smaller diversified farms into the world of institutional food service, large food vendors and mid- to large-scale farms. In our first year we visited, interviewed and recruited farmers, distributors and institutional food professionals from all around the region, we held farmer/buyer Round-tables and farmer workshops, and we researched FTI projects from all over the world. We gained valuable insight into the global food industry and a comprehensive understanding of institutional food purchasing, and we clearly understood the barriers to institutions buying from local farmers.
We knew we could find a few institutions to buy from a few farmers but our goal was more ambitious. We wanted to help develop a network of institutions, farmers and distributors who would become key to the revitalization of the local food distribution system on a much broader scale. To this end, in year two we facilitated a dedicated Working Group, including food service professionals and farmers from the Greater Philadelphia region. Through a collaborative process the Working Group has addressed specific barriers to local food purchasing. Our focus was in building the systems (relationships, supply, distribution, social marketing, and others) necessary for the Working Group members to successfully model long-term farm to institution purchasing, distribution, marketing, and education.
The Present
Now in year three of the project we have launched this online toolkit that includes a guide to local sourcing, tips for farmers and food service professionals, and the Farm to Institution marketing materials. We continue to facilitate the Working Group, and to shepherd along existing relationships between farmers and institutions and facilitate new ones. We are embarking on research into processing of “fresh cut” local product for institutional use, and in collaboration with several partners, we are breaking new ground in a pilot project with the Philadelphia School District. Finally, Fair Food has played a key role in the development of a local food distribution center called the Common Market. FTI provided vital information on product demand from institutions that enabled Common Market to develop realistic financial projections for it's first year of operation. Common Market opened it's doors for business in July of 2008 and the buyers and farmers from the FTI Working Group are the foundation upon which this business will continue to grow and succeed.
Online Toolkit
The Farm To Institution online toolkit is part of our ongoing work to provide institutions and farmers with resources that will help them find one another and support each other in increasing access to locally grown food on campus. The materials in the toolkit came out of Working Group activities, seminars, farmer/buyer round tables and networking events, one on one consultations, and farm tours. Farmers and buyers, both, requested a clearinghouse of information that would enable them find one another. The food service personnel felt the need for language and educational materials that would help communicate their commitment to supporting local farmers to their staff and customers.