Ep.21: Restoring Access to Local Farm Food
Tatiana Garcia Granados started The Common Market to bring farm food to her Philadelphia neighborhood. Now she's taking on the nation's broken food distribution system.
The Common Market in the News
This Philadelphia entrepreneur is helping fix a broken food system
It's The Common Market's mission to bring together two marginalized groups: lower-income minority communities and small farmers. And in that sense, change can't come fast enough.
"On a day-to-day basis, things happen pretty slowly," [Garcia Granados] says. But, "we're playing for the long haul. We hope 50 years from now, the food system is totally different."
Bake this delicious dessert with Georgia blueberries
Katie Chatham, The Common Market Georgia’s procurement manager, says they love working with farms and helping them get into the wholesale market. “We have the flexibility to work with folks who haven’t had access to these customers.”
The Common Market in Pennsylvania: Breaking Through the Food Hub Hubbub
Compared with complicated national or international supply chains, food hubs offer only one middleman ... so more profit can go into farmers’ pockets. At the same time, by creating a socially conscious economy of scale, the retail price of local foods can drop, making them more affordable. While the idea seems simple on its face, the reality of starting a food hub is anything but. Successful food hubs require incredible organization, business acumen, patience, and capital.
Kensington Community Food Co-Op Nears Goal to Open $1.9M Fresh Food Store
The Common Market posed a challenge to Kensington Community Food Co-op owners: Raise $25,000 for your grocery store, and we’ll match every dollar. With two days to go, KCFC has raised over 90% of their goal! The Common Market is a proud sponsor of the $1.9 million project to open a 2,000-plus-square-foot community-staffed grocery store on Coral Street at Lehigh and Frankford Avenues in North Philadelphia.
The Common Market earns Safe Quality Food Certification
Most school food service directors would love to fulfill their patrons’ desire for fresh, local food. But they also must adhere to high food safety standards which few small local farmers have the resources to meet.
This is not an issue for customers of The Common Market, which this month became the first and only local food hub in the country to earn SQF Level 2 certification by the globally recognized Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI).
SoundBites: The Common Market & Black Farmers
Development Fellow Hannah Jo King discusses our report: The Needs of Black Farmers on the Delmarva peninsula.
This Philadelphia entrepreneur is helping fix a broken food system
How Tatiana Garcia-Granados’ nonprofit enterprise, The Common Market, is bringing healthful food to low-income communities and lifting local farmers' livelihoods.
Pennsylvania food hub earns food safety certification
“One major reason we sought SQF certification is to make sure our small farmers aren’t cut out from doing business with these large food buyers and that those they serve don’t miss out on the opportunity to enjoy local, fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables."
The Common Market earns influential safe quality food certification.
The Common Market worked more than a year to boost their already stringent NSF International-certified food safety practices to meet SQF standards in food safety training, hazard analysis, allergen prevention, site security, crisis management, waste disposal, sanitation, and many other areas.