The Georgia ACRE Collective: Advancing Agriculture, Community, Resilience & Equity through Values-Based Procurement centers on garnering food purchasing commitments from Atlanta-area anchor institutions, while shifting procurement to producers that share these institutions’ values.
CASE STUDY: Building Resilient Agriculture through Forward Purchasing Commitments and Direct Farmer Financial Investment
This Georgia ACRE Collective case study examines an example of forward purchasing commitments and direct farmer financial investments: two key strategies deployed in Georgia to build the capacity of farmers and other food producers to meet the growing demand for fresh, local, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food within community-based anchor institutions like schools and hospitals. Empowered by the security of wholesale purchasing commitments, producers able to meet this demand have greater confidence to invest in their operations, more readily achieve profitability, and even scale their operations. This study was made possible with support from The Rockefeller Foundation.
CASE STUDY: The ACRE Collective's Local Foods Incentive School Pilot Program Oct. 2024
In September 2023, the Georgia ACRE Collective, led by The Common Market Southeast, launched the Local Foods Incentive School Pilot Program. During the 2023-2024 school year, the local foods pilot program provided funding to two metro Atlanta school districts — Marietta City Schools and Rockdale County Public Schools — to increase the amount of Georgia products served in school meals. In addition to funding for local food, the ACRE Collective provided training and technical assistance to menu new culturally appropriate recipes and support for student taste tests. This case study provides an overview of the pilot program and opportunities for future programs. An additional case study will be released in 2025 after further implementation and data collection has been completed.
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.
Impact
Since 2022, with seed funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, the ACRE Collective has:
- Secured 43 forward commitments across the Southeast
- Enabled over $150K in local food for school meals
- Awarded $130K in farmer infrastructure grants
- Expanded Farmer Champion Awards to metro Atlanta colleges and universities
- Secured 1,500 acres for 27 farmers through The Conservation Fund
- Delivered 2,000+ hours of technical assistance
In the news
- Introducing The Georgia ACRE Collective: Advancing Agriculture, Community, Resilience & Equity through Values-Based Procurement
- What are Forward Commitments?
- Bridging the Gap: Georgia's Farm-to-School Cafeteria Pilot Nurtures Local Farmers and Nourishes Students
- Serving a Healthy Future: The Impact of Values-Based Food Procurement in Health Care
- The Georgia ACRE Collective Marks a Year of Success with Forward Commitments, Local Food Incentives, and Working Capital Loans
- Marietta gets creative with school meals via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 9, 2023
- Farm to School pilot program launches at CJH, JHH
- Rockdale County Public Schools puts local sweet potatoes on the menu this holiday season, December 2, 2024
- RCPS launches farm-to-school pilot to expose students to more fresh foods, expands opportunities to minority farmers via On Common Ground News, February 2, 2024
- Farm to School Program a Win-Win-Win for Georgia Students, Farmers and Community via The Rockdale Citizen, February 7, 2024
- Farmer Champions: Georgia Colleges Recognized for Commitment to Local Food and Farms
- Farm to classroom: Marietta students learn — and eat — local via Marietta Daily Journal, August 16, 2025
Celebrating Commitment
We applaud the following Metro Atlanta-based institutions for making forward commitments to our historically underserved farmers, producers, and ranchers in the past year. Their decision to align their purchases with their values should serve as an example for what is possible when institutions use their purchasing power for good.
- Agnes Scott College
- Blessed Trinity Catholic School
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
- Dawson County Schools
- Emory University Hospital
- Northside Hospital
- North Georgia Health System
- Oglethorpe University
- University of North Georgia
Get in touch
We are eager to partner with Atlanta area institutions, farmers throughout the Southeast, and community partners to improve our regional food and farm systems. For more information, contact The Georgia ACRE Collective Project Manager, Emily Hennessee at emily@thecommonmarket.org.
Meet the Collective
The Georgia ACRE Collective is a collaboration between The Common Market Southeast, Health Care Without Harm, Georgia Organics, The Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund, the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University, and Alliance for a Healthier Generation. This initiative is made possible with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation.
