Our 2022 Impact Report

Creating a vibrant, equitable food system

by Jasmina Breen

Our 2022 Annual Report highlights all the ways our organization has helped lift up local agriculture and improve access to healthy food over the past year. Together, with the help of our partners, we invested $13,000,000 in local economies through food purchases and supported 118 family farms across our regions.

Be sure to explore the full report to learn more about our diverse programs, team members, and farmers—but here’s a glance at some of the standout headlines from our year in review.

Expanding Our Reach

The Common Market Great Lakes was officially approved as our newest chapter and expansion project! We’re excited to launch our programs into new territories, take on new partners, and engage more communities in the benefits of values-based procurement.

Farm to School Success Stories

The Common Market Mid-Atlantic spearheaded our initiative to elevate school food with a farm-to-school pilot that kicked off in New Jersey last year. We launched the first wave of our pilot program in schools where free and reduced lunch rates represent some of the highest in the state—Camden City School District and Bridgeton Public Schools.

With our support, the schools launched their first-ever salad bars, developed popular new menu items (asparagus fries, anyone?), and were able to source rare ingredients like local pork to spice up school menus.

The success of the trial proved farm-to-school is here to stay—and we plan to keep pushing the momentum through 2023. (This new New Jersey Farm to School bill has us excited!)

Financial Support for Local Farmers

We can’t transform food systems without the help of local farmers—which is why we’re always working on new ways to support them in building the infrastructure required to respond to growing demand.

In 2022, The Common Market responded to the capital needs of our supply chain by carving out $1M of our capital reserve to create The Common Market’s Farmer Loan Fund, which invests in zero-cost direct loans to our farm partners.

Supporting Policy Initiatives

Our co-founder Haile was one of just three food and nutrition leaders from across the country selected to help announce the USDA’s new Food System Transformation Framework, led by Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack.

Looking Ahead

While we’re grateful for the incredible strides we’ve made, we know our work has only just begun. In 2023 and beyond, we’re committed to continuing our on-the-ground fight for food system change, while developing innovative solutions and promoting policy advancements.

The vision? To move the needle on values-based procurement, to establish sustainable markets for our farmers of color, and to support the resilience of our local supply chains. We hope you'll join us!