Case Study: Year 1 The Georgia ACRE Collective

The Georgia ACRE Collective is Advancing Agriculture, Community, Resilience and Equity (ACRE) through Values-Based Procurement as an Atlanta, Georgia-based coalition of local and national organizations that share a vision for more vibrant and equitable regional food systems. The coalition evolved in 2022 through a year-long planning process within the local food community that included state, federal and local governmental agencies, institutional buyers, food as medicine practitioners and food system funders in facilitated brainstorming sessions. These stakeholders expressed a desire to come together to improve racial equity, health equity, economic opportunity, and environmental sustainability through strong procurement relationships between local anchor institutions and historically disadvantaged farmers. By incorporating food purchasing standards that align with core values (i.e. diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); climate action), anchor institutions can affect positive social changes through intentional procurement practices. This report reflects their collective efforts from Year 1, November 2022-November 2023.

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