Local apples, tomatoes, tofu and more are showing up on school lunch menus thanks to the combined efforts of school nutrition teams and organizations like The Common Market and the Illinois Farm to School Network.
The Common Market, a nonprofit regional wholesale food distributor based in the United States, is aiming to shift the paradigm of institutional food procurement. By advancing forward purchasing commitments to small and mid-scale farms, the organization hopes to rebuild regional food systems in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas, and the Great Lakes.
As federal support for key USDA programs winds down, small-scale Texas farmers warn of the damaging effects on local agriculture, community health and school nutrition across the state.
Jesus Lozano, founder of Triple J Organics in Mission, TX, said these cuts threaten hard-earned progress that has made locally grown produce more accessible to families and students alike.
“It’s frustrating to see fresh, nutritious fruit left behind while families in our communities go hungry,” Lozano said. “We grow high-quality produce, but without the right buyers, it’s wasted — and so is all the work that went into it.”
Lozano has harvested 10 acres of citrus near Mission since the mid-1990s. Over the years, Lozano has had national chains such as H-E-B and Whole Foods Market buying up his organic oranges. Lozano saw a boost in business thanks to two federal programs.
The Local Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement and the Local Food For Schools Programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed Lozano and other small farmers to sell their fruits and vegetables to schools and hospitals, thanks to over $1 billion in federal funding. Those programs are now ending.
Bill explains how the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) positively impacted The Common Market Southeast and its ecosystem of family farmers and community partners. While the programs are ending, they helped catalyze the local food distributor’s mission of building small farmer capacity.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly canceled a federal program that brought fresh, locally-sourced food to Austin school cafeterias last month — a move that gutted funding for the Austin Independent School District and severed revenue streams for Texas farmers who supplied public school districts.
Ken, Haile, and Keir Johnston are brothers who live and work in Philadelphia. Each has made his mark in community-oriented projects in different ways.
At the annual SOWTH conference, Agnes Scott College earned the 2024 Farmer Champion Award from Georgia Organics for its commitment to strengthening local food systems and supporting sustainable agriculture.
The college was honored with the award after serving students local food and consistently purchasing locally sourced foods in 2024. Agnes Scott committed to purchasing food from local farmers through its local food distributor, The Common Market, and supported 19 regional farmers and producers through their purchases.
Mercer University was recognized with the Farmer Champion Award by Georgia Organics, celebrating its unwavering commitment to strengthening local food systems and supporting sustainable agriculture.
“With this program, we’re able to bring produce directly from farmers to the student community at UTSA,” said Hallie Casey, director of partnerships for The Common Market, in a statement. “By knowing your farmer and where your food comes from, we can guarantee you're getting the freshest food possible and the food that's going to be the most nutritious for you. It’s been a pleasure partnering with UTSA and Aramark to make this happen.”
Our friendly and educated team is here to partner with you every step of the way. Connect today to learn of all the ways to partner with The Common Market.
"Being able to connect to a distributor and an organizer like The Common Market - that allows us to reach a local food producing community in a major way - is for us, a dream come true."
— Lucy Kerman, Ph.D., Vice Provost, University and Community Partnerships, Drexel University