Regional Food Hubs: Challenges and opportunities for linking producers to regional markets - handout

1. National Farm to Cafeteria Conference
Regional Food Hubs: Challenges and Opportunities
for Linking Producers to Institutional Markets
Moderator
Jim Barham is an Agricultural Economist at USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. His work involves improving
marketing opportunities for small and mid-size producers through a combination of research and technical assistance.
He is currently leading USDA’s food hub taskforce under the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Initiative.
- USDA “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Initiative: www.usda.gov/knowyourfarmer
- USDA Food Hub Portal: www.ams.usda.gov/foodhubs
Presenters
Mandy Davis is the Development Manager at the Intervale Center, a nonprofit based in Burlington, Vermont, which
strives to increase the viability of farming, promote the sustainable use of agricultural lands and engage our community
in the food system. Mandy has been working in development and providing strategic support for Intervale Center
programs since 2006.
- Intervale Center: www.intervale.org
- Intervale Food Hub: www.intervale.org/what-we-do/intervale-food-hub
Robin Morris is a partner in a local business incubator and in 2011 working with the local community founded the
Mad River Food Hub L3C to support local farmers and value added food producers along the Mad River in Central
Vermont. Using his 30 years of business management experience, Robin assists the Mad River Food Hub customers
grow their organizations sustainably.
- Mad River Food Hub: http://madriverfoodhub.com
Katherine Sims is the Executive Director of Green Mountain Farm-to-School in Newport, VT. She has been working with
Vermont schools for over 5 years building school gardens, connecting institutional buyers with local farms, teaching
students about healthy food choices, and training school food service staff to prepare and serve fresh, whole and local
foods.
- Green Mountain Farm-to-School: http://www.greenmountainfarmtoschool.org
- Green Mountain Farm Direct: http://greenmountainfarmdirect.org
Stacey Sobell is the Farm to School Manager at Ecotrust, a Portland, Oregon-based conservation organization
committed to building a future that strengthens communities and the environment from Alaska to California. At
Ecotrust, Stacey supports and promotes farm to school programming at local, state, and regional levels, acting as the
Lead Agency for the 8-state western region of the National Farm to School Network, co-leading the National Farm to
School Network’s new national farm to preschool initiative, as well as exploring ways to connect low-income and
minority producers and consumers in the food system. Stacey also helps schools, childcare centers, and other
institutions find local farms and food producers on Ecotrust’s FoodHub, a free online directory and marketplace for
buyers and sellers of regional food.
- Ecotrust: http://www.ecotrust.org/
- Ecotrust’s FoodHub: www.food-hub.org

2. Green Mountain
Mad River Food Hub Intervale Food Hub Farm Direct Ecotrust’s FoodHub
Year Established 2011 2008 2008 2010
Legal Status Vermont L3C 501c3 nonprofit 501c3 nonprofit 501c3 nonprofit
Market Model (see below)* Hybrid Model F2C Model F2B/I Model Virtual
Institutions: Schools,
Primary Markets Value Add Producers Individuals Hospitals, etc. 40% Buyers/40% Sellers
FarmProduce Grocers, Restaurants, 20%
Secondary Markets Distribution Businesses Buying Clubs Associates/Distributors
# of Producers 30+ 24+ 31 ~1600/4K total members
Annual Gross Sales (2011) $23,915 $408,000 $36,000 N/A
Expected Gross Sales (2012) $120,000+ $484,000 $150,000 N/A
Operational Services
Aggregation w/Foodworks F2T Yes Yes
Distribution Yes Yes Yes
Brokering/Matchmaking Yes Yes Yes Yes
Processing Yes (FDA/USDA Meat)
Cold & Dry Storage Yes Yes
Branding/Market Development Yes Yes Yes Yes
Producer Services
Production/Post harvest
handling training Yes (Meat co-packing) Yes Yes Via Associates
Food safety and GAP training Yes (HACCP) Via Associates
Production planning Yes (SBDC Business Consulting) Yes Yes Via Associates
Value-added product
development Yes (SBDC Business Consulting) Via Associates
Community Services
Distributing to food deserts w/Foodworks F2T Yes Yes Via Associates
Consumer education Yes (Mad River Localvores) Yes Yes Via Associates
SNAP redemption Yes Soon
Food bank donations Yes Facilitate via EFA badge
*Market Model refers to the markets that food hubs serve. Farm to Consumer Model (F2C) means that food hubs sell directly to
consumers (e.g., multi-farm CSA, online buying club, mobile market). Farm to Business/Institution Model (F2B/I) means they sell to
wholesale buyers, like grocery stores, restaraunts, schools, hospitals, etc. Hybrid Model means they sell directly to consumers AND sell to
wholesale buyers. A "Virtual" Food Hub generally refers to an online site that matches suppliers with buyers, but does not get involved in
the actual aggregation or distribution of products from supplier to buyer.