LRFS
USDA-AMS Cooperative Agreement, May 2020 – September 2021 University of Kentucky, Colorado State University, Northeast Regional Center of Rural Development at Pennsylvania State University…
Topic: Adopting New Technology & Innovation
Wallace Center at Winrock International
City Seed, in New Haven, CT interviewed farmers from the markets and conducted research on the impact of climate change on farmers, particularly on pricing, production, and supply….
Wallace Center at Winrock International
Feed the Second Line in New Orleans is working to develop a coordinated network of solar-panel powered restaurants in New Orleans that can continue to operate during/after hurricanes, becoming the "first responders for [the] community." Locating this solar power at restaurants in the city's poorest neighborhoods helps them be a front-line response to those most impacted by the inequity of climate disaster. They help address: hunger, food waste, job interruptions and supply chain breakdowns….
Farmers Market Coalition
In 2020, FMC piloted an annual report to highlight farmers market adaptations and trends in the era of COVID-19. These types of reports can be used to demonstrate a market’s flexibility and highlight its successes stemming from market innovations or other changes implemented by an organization in response to COVID to funders and other stakeholders. This infographic-style report is modeled after the reporting design embedded in FMC’s Farmers Market Metrics software….
NAFDMA Agritourism Association
Agritourism operators developed timed, ticketed entry systems to manage the flow of visitors. These systems were often mediated by online platforms. By restricting visitor capacity, farm operators could better allocate resources to create safe conditions for visitors….
CSA Innovation Network
This webinar will take a deep dive into some of the most popular software platforms for farm-specific sales, based on 2020 national farmer-survey findings. Our featured speaker is Claire Strader, Organic Vegetable Educator of Dane County Extension & FairShare CSA Coalition. Claire will present on general eCommerce platforms as well as farm-specific software for CSA and direct sales!…
CSA Innovation Network
This webinar focuses on how CSA farmers and farmer support organizations are producing new & engaging virtual experiences and learning a lot in the process. Come learn as we discuss the most successful, challenging, and innovative aspects of virtual CSA fairs, farmer field days, fundraising events and farmer-led CSA member events! Speakers include Katie Harvey, Elizabeth Corio, Briana Alfaro, and Lauren Rudersdorf….
Farmers Market Coalition
The first objective of this brief is to establish a more transparent and better understanding of the budgets of farmers market organizations. This document includes case studies with budgetary data from the Boulder County Farmers Markets (BCFM) in Colorado and the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association (PCFMA) in the San Francisco Bay Area. The case studies are intended to help farmers market managers conceptualize the expenditures and revenue streams of markets with different organizational…
Farm To Institution New England and National Farm To School Network
Communities with existing farm to school initiatives and multi-agency collaboratives were able to quickly pivot to provide urgently needed food access while re-investing local, philanthropic, and federal dollars into a local food economy reeling from pandemic disruptions. It is precisely because of community-scale networks and ongoing partnerships (rather than large scale or consolidated efforts) that initiatives highlighted in this brief were able to provide hundreds of thousands of pounds of locally produced, fresh, and…
Farmers Market Coalition
Farmers Markets were compelled to alter their models in a variety of ways at the onset of the pandemic. They conformed to social distancing guidelines and other public safety requirements which allowed them to remain open and continue serving vendors and customers safely and effectively. Some changed to contactless drive-thru or curbside models, where customers pre-ordered products online or by phone and picked it up in their vehicle. Others opted for crowd control measures…
Farmers Market Coalition
During 2020, FRESHFARM, an organization that manages farmers markets in the Washington, D.C., area, piloted a relatively low-cost device that counts the number of pings from mobile phones as they connect with a Wi-Fi network. This technology does not reveal any of the phone owner’s identifying information, nor does it collect data from phones. Instead, these counts provide a way for farmers market managers to estimate the number of visitors and their length of…
Proof Incubator
A 4-week virtual course for owners and operators of restaurants and foodservice businesses with a focus on stabilization and growth….
Farmers Market Coalition
For our Summer 2020 COVID Impact survey, the FMC team set a goal of 300 responses across all states, a goal which was met and then exceeded with a final count of 461 market organizations reporting in 50 states. The goal of 300 responses was made based on estimating the number of market organizations operating in the US as 3,000-4,000, estimating because the number of actual organizations is unknown. We focused our surveys on…
Farm to Institution New England
This brief highlights how healthcare facilities implemented and expanded local food initiatives during the pandemic as a means to effectively feed and care for healthcare constituents while also investing in the local food economy. Specifically, by leveraging existing partnerships and value chains, healthcare organizations moved quickly to serve their stakeholders through onsite retail (e.g. grocery) locations and expanded community supported agriculture (CSA) or produce subscription programs while continuing to support local food producers whose…
LEE Initiative
To maintain these relationships, and to create the foundation for a more resilient restaurant industry, the LEE Initiative provided stipends to local farms in 20 regions across the U.S. to ensure continued food production for restaurants. These farmers were then given a list of selected independent restaurants that could purchase farm products on credit provided by the program. This allowed restaurants to lower ingredient costs while still acquiring local products, providing high-quality food to…
