In Spring 2013, we are on the precipice of dramatic, disruptive change in the health field that offers an unprecedented opportunity and challenge to transform health care and population health. We know that traditional public health approaches along with more and better health care are not enough to improve health outcomes, equity, and cost. We must also: - implement sustainable, fundamental "upstream" changes that address the root causes of disease and disability; and - transform the way we deliver health care to ensure access to quality, affordable health care for all. Enjoy this Bright Spot presentation from Ariana Michas of Community Alliance with Family Farmers, which was presented at the 2013 Annual Leadership Conference, co-sponsored by the Center for Health Leadership (CHL) and the California Pacific Public Health Training Center (CALPACT) at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. To learn more about this event, please visit: http://calpact.org/index.php/en/events/leadership-conference Learn more about CALPACT: http://calpact.org/ Learn more about the CHL: http://chl.berkeley.edu/

1. BAY AREA HOSPITAL
SOURCING PROJECT

2. PROJECT PARTNERS
- Convened by PSR,, the Hospital Leadership Team is a group
of foodservice leaders from Bay Area Hospital Systems who
joined forces to source more sustainable, fresh produce from
local farmers.
- CAFF’s mission is to serve CA family farmers and promote
sustainable agriculture. CAFF has pioneered farm to institution
sourcing throughout the state.
-Participating Hospitals: John Muir Health, UCSF,
SFVA, )Kaiser Permanente, Washington Hospital, St. Francis/
St. Mary’s, SF General). Project Funder: Kaiser Community
Benefits
-Distributors: Freshpoint, Bay Cities, Daylight Produce
-Farms: Coke, Dwelley, Green Solar, Greene & Henley,
Zuckermans…

3. PROJECT ARCHITECTURE:
-Change goals in the supply chain are focused on the
traditional distribution infrastructure.
-Combining volumes from the hospitals to influence suppliers
to make changes in purchasing and ordering
-Focus on 9 “flavor crops” than span the 12 month growing
cycle, including both fruits and veg, whole, and fresh-cut
-Recruiting appropriate farms to supply the project
-Regularly tracking volumes
-Creating marketing materials so the story doesn’t stop at the
plate/tray

4. CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION:
-Distributors don’t have point of purchase ID for local,
family farmed produce
-Distributors favor working with big farms
-Hospital food safety requirements bar many farmers
from eligibility
-Institutional reliance on fresh-cut produce
-Food & labor budgets

5. - Measured current sourcing practices & volumes
- Recruited a farm able/willing to supply products
- Worked with distributors to create point of purchase
labeling
- Shared order details with hospitals
- Tracked progress
RESULT: 8,478# organic, local strawberries into the
Hospitals. Coke Farm is increasing its acreage of organic
berries by 30% this season to meet the demand from this
project.
CASE STUDY 1: Strawberries

6. - Measured current sourcing practices & volumes
- Recruited a farm able/willing to supply products
- Worked with 1 distributor to create point of
purchase labeling
- Worked with distributor to segregate product during
processing and create farm-specific label
- Shared order details with hospitals
- Tracked progress
RESULT: 3,830# local green beans in a variety of cuts into
2 Hospital Systems. Only the distributor with in-house
processing was able to make this product available.
CASE STUDY 2: Green Beans

7. - Measured current sourcing practices & volumes
- Huge volume of cheap product coming from Mexico
floods the market and makes finding farmers who
grow the “right” product a challenge
- Labor budgets in hospitals prevent usage of locally
available product
- Locally available product ‘not well suited’ to
processing
RESULT: Only 1 case of local cherry tomatoes makes
it through the value chain to the SFVA.
CASE STUDY 3: Tomatoes

8. TELLING THE STORY: Marketing Materials
www.johnmuirhealth.com
www.caff.orgwww.psr.org
COMMUNITY ALLIANCE WITH FAMILY FARMERS WWW.CAFF.ORG
WHY BUY LOCAL?

9. TELLING THE STORY: Marketing Materials

10. LESSONS LEARNED
-Sourcing more local, sustainable food is not a
supply problem, it’s a connection problem
-Collective volume not as meaningful as collective
influence (yet…)
-There must be internal will all around the table
-Pilot-scale project to create new distribution
mechanisms
-Need a third party organization or consultant
-Each supply chain is unique, requires creative,
hybrid solutions
-Keep making the case

11. LESSONS LEARNED
“Having a roundtable discussion with other hospitals on
the challenges, failures, strategies, sharing recipes,
generating ideas as to how to grow this, discussing how to
line up behind a farmer – that type of discussion is very
valuable. If everyone is independent, no one is going to
be able to drive this huge system forward, but if we have
three or four hospitals, that’s a game changer. Al off a
sudden, our distributor is listening to everything we have
to say.”
-Luis Vargas, Purchasing Director, University of California
San Francisco Medical Center

12. QUESTIONS? PLEASE CONTACT:
ARIANE MICHAS
ariane@caff.org
510-832-4625 xt.12
KENDRA KLEIN
kleinkec@yahoo.com
415-350-5957