Episode 204. Feed Our Future: Local Food through School Purchasing Cooperatives

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Tammy Howard, a National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) sustainable agriculture specialist at NCAT’s Rocky Mountain West Regional Office, talks with Alison Patrick of the Feed our Future initiative, based in northeast Ohio.

Tammy and Alison talk about the Feed our Future Farm to School pilot program, which led to the development of a school purchasing cooperative and a wide expansion of local produce purchasing. She also discusses the important role that food hubs have played in providing the quantity and consistency that school require.

Related ATTRA Resources:

Feasibility for a Central Texas Food Hub

Food Hubs

Food Hubs: A Producer Guide

Food Hubs and School Sales

Other Resources:

Feed Our Future

For more information on this topic, you can contact Tammy Howard directly via email at tammyh@ncat.org.

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You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA’s website.

This podcast episode is one of a number of case studies featuring farmers successfully navigating school sales as part of Bringing the Farm to School, a training program developed as a cooperative agreement between NCAT, the National Farm to School Network and the USDA Food and Nutrition Services.