IPH Learning Cohort

Welcome to the Local Food Institutional Purchasing Cohort page. Please read below to learn more about the program.

The committment to the IPH Learning Cohort is to engage in a learning journey with other institutions over a 24-month cycle so that the cohort can develop relationships and understand individual and collective progress over two annual budget cycles.

General phasing during the 24-month cycle is flexible based on cohort needs and desires. The expectation is that the learning journey will be iterative and each institution's situtation is unique.

Cohort members may complete or tackle any of the following phases of development during their learning journey:

1. Awareness: Identify where your insitution is on the local food purchasing journey.

2. Data Collection: Understand the process, frameworks, and supports to create a baseline of your institution's current food purchases and related impacts.

3. Process Analysis: Engage in rich discussions of the benefits and opportunities after articulating your institutions current process.

4. Innovation: Discover new ways of working within your instituion and among cohort member insitutions to learn and implement strategies for increasing local food purchasing,

5. Celebrate Progress: Share your institution's wins and areas of growth as a member of a larger effort to be leaders in "walking the walk" of transformation for a more resilient local economy and food system.

New cohort members are welcome to join at any time. Completing this Readiness Assessment is the first step to join.