It’s easy to find a pint of locally grown cherry tomatoes in Johnson County, Iowa in September. It’s not so easy to find enough to feed an entire school district.
In June 2019, Field to Family evolved into a nonprofit food hub in an effort to tackle that challenge.
Our past: How Field to Family became a food hub
Field to Family partnered with Iowa City Community School District in 2010 to form a Farm to School chapter, connecting children with local food and farmers.
“We immediately began working with their food service director to talk about how we could get local on the menu,” said Field to Family director Michelle Kenyon.
Over the next several years, the nonprofit helped grow local offerings on the ICCSD lunch menu to include apples, melons, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes.
As the district grew, Kenyon and other community partners saw opportunities to further expand local on the menu. Demand outpaced supply, however. At the end of the day, it is far easier to buy from large corporate suppliers than small, local farmers.
“We realized we needed to fill a gap in our infrastructure to be able to scale up local foods at the wholesale level,” Kenyon said.
Field to Family and community partners, including local farmers, schools, the Johnson County Food Policy Council and the Iowa City Area Development group, came together to imagine solutions for growing both supply and demand of local foods within the institutional market. In the end, the goal was to create a food hub.
Every food hub is unique, but Johnson County needed a hub focused on aggregating and distributing bulk local food orders to large institutional customers: schools, the University of Iowa, retirement communities and more. The Johnson County Board of Supervisors identified the need to create such an entity as a priority in the county’s 2017 strategic plan.
“Ultimately we realized it would be best served under a nonprofit umbrella,” Kenyon said. “With the history of Field to family working with schools to broker local foods for the menu, our strong ties to local farmers it became a natural fit.”
Our present: Field to Family’s impact
Establishing a new food hub requires infrastructure. The hub itself needs a centralized location and transportation. Customers need easy ordering and education about seasonal menu planning. Producers need partners to meet growing demand.
With great support from the community, Field to Family and its supporters have been able to build needed infrastructure to scale up local foods and expand access in Johnson County and surrounding areas.
“There’s more local food available because we have been able to create a larger demand,” Kenyon said.
Building relationships is a key part of Field to Family’s work as a hub. Sales & Partnerships Manager Giselle Bruskewitz has connected more than 30 wholesale customers to local food, working with 34 local farmers. Sales have increased greatly year-over-year.
Growth in the farm to school sector has been especially strong. Field to Family has formed partnerships with several school districts, early care providers and universities as well. From 2019-2020, Field to Family increased sales to pK-12 schools 66%, reaching approximately 20,000 students in the region.
“When schools and ECEs buy local, they keep dollars in our communities and provide students from all backgrounds with fresh, high-quality meals,” Bruskewitz said. “Schools have always been, and will always be, a priority for us at Field to Family.”
Growing sales have accompanied a diversified product list, which now includes dairy and value-added products in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables. Farmers have been able to grow their operations to meet increasing demand from institutional customers. Online ordering and free delivery have made it easy for customers to choose local.
Our future: work left to be done
Field to Family has accomplished a great deal in its two years as a food hub, but more work remains.
“We are still not making a dent in the amount of food we are importing into our region,” Kenyon said. “We need to make it easier for institutions to choose local more often.”
To further promote local over imported options, menu planners need increased education. Imbalance within the food system has additionally created a huge price difference between small farmers and corporate food suppliers. Field to Family seeks to pay farmers fairly, and farmers need to pay workers fairly. Bridging that gap remains a challenge.
Continued growth requires further commitment from state and local stakeholders. Field to Family needs support to maintain its food hub, expand its operations and build its capacity.
“We know there are a lot more opportunities to get local on more menus every day,” Bruskewitz said.
To help us continue this work and create more connections going forward, please consider making a donation to Field to Family at this link.