Sustainability Showcase - Shared Abundance

This page is organized by the Table of Contents from Shared Abundance. Each chapter consists of interviews, stories, and recipes that pertain to the topic of that chapter. Every chapter concludes with section called "Playbook: Advice, Tips, and Pointers." Featured on this page are some relevant excerpts from these sections for farm-to-table projects and their implementation.

Building Economy

Generate excitement about the positive potential of a local food economy by sharing stories of entrepreneurial farmers who are charting this path.

Show how supporting farms as businesses can have ripple effects for preserving land and providing healthy food for all who live in your region.

Organize conferences, meet-and-greets, and brainstorming sessions to pull all local food partners together

Create a list of goals for building a local food economy, like the goals in the Michigan Good Food Charter.

Start a local food festival

Join with others in your community to create a food council, network, or coalition of diverse partners who want to build a resilient local food economy. People can do more together than seperately, and can provide a strong voice for advocacy.

Marketing

Understand that marketing is essential to building a local food economy.

Communicate the benefits of buying local.

Invest in a professionally designed logo, labels, and other branding.

Encourage farmers to show off the beauty of their farms on social media to establish and emotional bond with customers.

Make a directory of local farms. Use your knowledge of farmers and buyers to generate referrals among them.

Farm to School

Know that locally grown food often generates less waste at schools because students love the fresh flavors and throw less in the garbage.

Host a regional conference to stimulate farm-to-school activities near you.

Ask the school board (or school administration) to support food service in transitioning to fresh, local food preparation, which can require funding for equipment and training.

Hire food service staff with culinary skills.

Be OK with introducing local foods in a small way, such as one new item a week in the salad bar.

Establish school gardens. Hands-on involvement by students gets them excited to try new foods, especially ones they have planted and harvested.

10 Cents a Meal

Click here to learn more about 10 Cents a Meal.

The 10 Cents a Meal program stands on two pillars: supporting farms and feeding children. Both pillars must be respected, represented, and repeated in ALL messaging

Not all schools and farms have experience in 10 Cents a Meal yet, so set up a system of support such as trainings and one-on-one assistance.

Collect data and tell stories. Build your messaging with a powerful mix of true and moving stories - from farmers, students, school staff, families -- buttresed with easily understood facts and infographics.

Building Resilient Communities

Be sure to include food pantries and community meal sites in your plan for a local food economy. Doing so provides nutrient-dense food to people who very much need it and improves farmer profits.

Do a fundraiser for pantries so they can buy from local farms. People are inspired by the idea of simultaneously supporting farmers and neighbors in need.

Micro-grants, strategically invested (a freezer at a food pantry, a wash station at a farm) can strengthen and add capacity to the local food economy and increase local food access.

Make it easier for people to purchase local food at farmers markets with government food assistance benefits like SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks.

Understand the importance of providing high-quality, locally grown food to people at pantries and meal sites. Move beyond the notion that any food -- even less nourishing food -- is good enough.

Farms, Food & Health

Good news: many health professionals are convinced that the healthiest, freshest food possible comes from local farms. Work with these health advocates as allies.

Build a community teaching kitchen.

Set up a demonstration table for cooking and tasting at the farmers market.

Look for ways to introduce local food into settings serving people with health challenges, like addiction treatment centers, food pantries, and hospitals.

Help people build healthy social connections through healthy cooking and eating.

Infrastructure

Become a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm. Farmers offer diverse options, e.g., garlic lovers plan, a half-share, loaf of artisan bread, Find a good fit!

A sophisticated, right-sized "middleman" (aka distributor, aggregation food hub, or processor for small farms) can be a powerful ally in building a local food economy.

When thinking infrastructure, consider the idea broadly, e.g., equipment, education, financing, marketing tools, business model systems, and electronic benefit transaction technology at farmers markets.

Farms can also organize their own infrastructure, from cooperative ordering, marketing, and delivery to co-managing a restaurant.

Create an incubator kitchen to help aspiring chef entrepreneurs get started.

Learn from tribal communities about their journey to establish food sovereignty to grow their own food, build economy, and grow culturally important and healthful foods.

Provide green collar job training opportunities for young people in such areas as food and ecology centered after-school programs or supporting the management of farmers markets. AmeriCorps, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and agency support or payment could be funding sources.