The Press of Atlantic City

"The program established in both districts uses a funding mechanism that eases budgetary restrictions placed on schools, therefore they can purchase locally grown foods with greater nutritional values more easily. While students benefit from filling themselves with nutritious meals, Garden State food suppliers rack up purchases, therefore the program helps improve local economies and business at small, family owned farms, the The Common Market said."

NJ.com

“The district receives weekly deliveries of farm-fresh, New Jersey-sourced fruits and vegetables as a part of a new farm-to-school pilot program that incentivizes the purchases of local foods from family farms,” according to a press release from The Common Market. “The pilot kicked off last month and will run through July."

RWJBarnabas Health

"RWJBarnabas Health, the largest academic health care system in New Jersey is partnering with The Common Market to address food insecurity in 18 towns across the state from Jersey City to Toms River.

In 2021, RWJBH partnered with The Common Market to deliver Farm-Fresh Boxes of local produce, freshly baked bread, eggs, and yogurt, to RWJBH Hospitals across the state, which interns delivered to local food distribution sites, such as churches and food pantries."

Civil Eats

“We need to be able to balance the efficiency with resiliency,” Vilsack said during a panel discussion that featured regional food hub innovator and founder of The Common Market Haile Johnston, California organic farmer Javier Zamora, and Georgia physician-nutritionist Sharica Brookins."

USDA

"What else could heal our physical health, our economies, our ecologies and bridge urban and social and rural divides...What else can bring people together in challenging times better than food," Haile Johnston of The Common Market shared.

Forbes

"The Common Market is an exciting supply chain innovation that is transforming the role of wholesalers. A nonprofit that builds regional and regenerative food supply chains throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Texas (and soon the Great Lakes), The Common Market partners with farmers to handle distribution of their harvests, ensuring that customers get some of the best and freshest foods."

The Philadelphia Inquirer

"That is the motivation behind a pilot launched in March in Bridgeton and Camden by The Common Market, a nonprofit local distributor, to infuse locally grown fruit and vegetables and products into the lunch menu. The Common Market hopes to support diverse farmers in the state."

CBS Philly

“How do we ensure that students are accessing the highest quality food in schools and how can we make it really easy to do that while simultaneously supporting growers that are in the students’ communities?” said Rachel Terry, national partnership director with The Common Market.

Illinois Farm Bureau

Since 2008, The Common Market has distributed local foods from over 300 sustainable family farms and producers to 1,800+ schools, hospitals, eldercare facilities, workplaces, and community organizations. In that time, they estimate 58 million meals have been served with local sourced products. The Common Market has found community drive success across the country individualizing their programs to the communities they are working in, including the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas, and now the Great Lakes region. As part of the 2022 #LiveLocal: Local Food and Farmers Market Conference, hear from co-founder Haile Johnston and Great Lakes Director Eliana Pinilla on how they are developing programs in the region to build on the collaborative food economy of Illinois.

Civil Eats

In the U.S, for example, the Common Market launched its Farm-Fresh Box initiative, which ultimately tackled two challenges: meeting the immediate food needs of vulnerable families while at the same time strengthening shorter and more local supply chains.

The Common Market in the News

Bridgeton schools supplied with food through nonprofit's pilot program

School offers fresh local food for lunch as part of N.J. pilot program

RWJBarnabas Health Tackles Increases in Food Insecurity Following the Pandemic

Tom Vilsack on How the USDA Can Transform the Food System

Vilsack to Deliver Address Announcing USDA Framework to Transform the Food System

How Good Food Enterprises Are Thriving In The Covid-19 Era

How two N.J. school districts are trying to serve healthier lunches with locally grown produce

School Lunches Get Healthy Makeover In Camden Through Partnership With Local Farmers

"Creating Community Through Food Hubs"

Op-Ed: There Is Ample Evidence That Agroecology Can Transform the Food System