Raven Santana sits down with farmers and agricultural experts to highlight the top crops in the state, how fresh produce makes it to our schools and the legacy of black farmers in New Jersey. Kenny Bartee from K&J Farms, a Black-owned vegetable farm in Elmer, NJ, explains his farming legacy and how The Common Market has played a role in helping him gain committed markets for his product.
At The Common Market, we’re aware that adopting a values-based approach to school food procurement – one that prioritizes community values, like supporting local businesses or climate, over price – can present unfamiliar challenges for school districts and their food service teams. We also know that once a program is in place, the benefits of local procurement can outweigh the burden of the initial effort it takes to implement. Values-based procurement strengthens communities, contributes to resilient local food economies, and positively impacts student health.
But, how do schools get there? In this webinar, hosted by the Urban School Food Alliance, our National Partnership Director Rachel Terry breaks it down and illustrates insights from our recent resource: “Advancing School Food Procurement: Driving Values-Based Purchasing Through Competitive Solicitation”.
Georgia’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) enables us to buy and distribute healthy, Georgia-grown foods harvested by farmers like our friends at EKC Pecans and create new markets for their products within food banks throughout the state. This program sees nutritious, high-quality, diverse items reaching communities facing food insecurity and drives deeply meaningful revenue for BIPOC farms. This episode of A Fork in the Road features EKC Pecans and how The Common Market Southeast plays a role in creating opportunities for the family-run operation.
The Rockefeller Foundation has invested more than $11.3 million in and around Metro Atlanta across its Equity & Economic Opportunity and Food programs since 2019. Recent collaborations include:
With food system and supply chain shocks increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change, public health emergencies, and conflict, the need for a resilient multi-level food system has become ever more apparent. Over the course of the pandemic, the public, private, and nonprofit sectors of food supply and distribution have responded with unprecedented speed and creativity to the challenges created by the lockdown and its aftermath. In this session, food system stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy will discuss the lessons and strategies for responding to disasters while simultaneously building a more nutritious, equitable, and sustainable food system that is equipped for the future.
"Recognizing base line, for us to advance racial equity as part of public procurement—and any other value as well—it is a deviation from the system and the way that it is today. It is a shift from a low-cost procurement model to one where we are embedding values and reconsidering the way that our procurement processes occur."
"The White House held a conference on fighting hunger and diet-related diseases for the first time in 50 years to address President Biden’s goal to end hunger by 2030. The plan released this week relies on expanding SNAP benefits, increasing the supply of free school lunches and improving access to grocery stores and healthy food.
This hour, we discuss food insecurity in our region and look at who is most affected. We’ll also talk about the connection to chronic disease and the domestic policies that make it harder for families to eat well. Among our guests are Haile Johnston, co-founder of The Common Market."
Several preschools have recently banded together to form a “farm to preschool” co-op, led by a partnership between Open Hand Atlanta and The Common Market Southeast. Twice a month, Open Hand delivers fresh produce from The Common Market to participating preschools, along with educational materials.
"Tatiana Garcia-Granados and her husband launched The Common Market after recognizing the impact of diet-related disease on their communities. 'There really was a big distribution mismatch; there were family farms right outside of Philadelphia that didn’t have access to fair markets for their product, and at the same time communities like ours weren't able to access healthy food.'
With the support of DRK, the food distributor extended to six other cities including New York, Houston, and Atlanta."
"The Common Market is creating a multi-year food procurement initiative to direct food purchasing dollars locally and equitably. The initiative will provide opportunities for Black farmers and other underserved growers, while increasing access to healthy food in schools and hospitals."
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.
"What I most appreciate is the consistency of the produce. I have yet to experience wilted lettuce or incorrect sizing of products and this is something difficult to find with the “big box” companies. I also appreciate Common Market's passion for developing relationships between the farmers and the chefs."
— Mike Bacha, Executive Chef, Emory University Hospital