Progress 09/01/18 to 02/28/19
Outputs
Target Audience:There are three target audiences of this CFP during the current reporting period: fruit and vegetable growers, shareholders in the produce markets of the southeast region, and low income, food insecure residents of Georgia. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia reports all program statistics to stakeholders through an annual report. This totals our distribution, outreach, and describes all programming for the year. In addition to this tool, the Food Bank works with local media outlets in Athens, GA, and Clayton, GA to share the work of the Food Bank. Lastly, the Food Bank utilizes Facebook and Instagram to promote the work we do with local farmers and encourage community interaction with Food Bank programming. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Build the Local Food System In the current grant period, local food producers utilized the Food Bank's IQF equipment to preserve 72,227 pounds of produce for sale on commercial markets. Additionally, theFood Bank's IQF program provided local produce to 9 schools and 3 restaurants during the grant period.As in previous years, the Food Bank hosted the Clayton Farmers Market onsite at our food hub each month. This program provides monthly markets for 24 farmers goods and services. Build Self Sufficiency This program distributed fresh frozen produce to an estimated 2,500 food insecure households in FY 2019. Both the Teaching Kitchen and Teaching Garden hosted hundreds of families, individuals, and children in FY 2019. These courses helped teach families healthy cooking skills, how to source affordable nutrition, and how to select and prepare to produce. These programs are designed to affect the social factors that contribute to food insecurity. Distribute local produce The Food Bank distributed 57,909 pounds of local and regional, fresh frozen produce in FY 2019. This product was sourced through local farms and the Southeastern Regional Cooperative. It was distributed through the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's network of 230 smaller, hunger relief non-profits, as well as other Georgia Food Bank Association food banks.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/14 to 02/28/19
Outputs
Target Audience: The primary focus of this grant over the last four and half years was developing the economic and agricultural capacity of local food producers in Northeast Georgia in order to help create a more sustainable food system for low income, food insecure residents of the region. During this CFP there were three primary target audiences: local food producers from the Food Bank's 14 county coverage area, shareholders, business owners, and food sellers in the southeast region, and low income, food insecure families and individuals in Northeast Georgia. The Food Bank worked with dozens of local food producers during this grant period, but our strongest relationships were with the 24 farmers who participated in the monthly farmers market on site at our facility in Clayton, Georgia. These farmers came from the five mountain counties of our region: Habersham, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White Counties. This program helped establish markets for these farmers' produce both in the mountain region and statewide. Their products were sold to restaurants, small grocers, and even to other food banks in the Georgia Food Bank Association. Additionally, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia purchased produce from local producers every year to be frozen and distributed to the food insecure population of Northeast Georgia. Changes/Problems:The biggest challenge this program faced was employee turnover. As a small nonprofit, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia experiences a high turnover rate typical for nonprofit corporations. The Food Bank worked with 3 Rabun County Extension Agents and 3 Food Hub Managers over the course of this grant period. This caused a high amount of interruption to the developing relationships between the Food Bank and the local farm community. Additionally, the Food Bank's Executive Director, John Becker, who was the instigator and main drive behind this project,retired in June 2018. This meant that the Food Bank's Grants Manager took over the directorship of this project during the final year and final grant extension.Secondly, the Food Bank experienced mechanical problems with the IQF line in 2017 that delayed production and sale of local produce. This added both extra cost and time delays to the goal of purchasing and preserving food from local farms. However, despite these challenges, The Whole Community Food Network met and exceeding its goals of both being a catalyst for the food industry of the Northeast Georgia Region and distributing local. Georgia Grown produce back to the food insecure population. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project's co-director, Julia Gaskin, ran a training curriculum for farmers, food producers, and food sellers for 48 months of this grant period.She facilitated one course each month on the following subjects:farming best management practices, agricultural business planning, crop growth and rotation planning, healthy eating, creating healthy food systems, government and business compliance training, etc. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia reports all program statistics to stakeholders through an annual report. This totals our distribution, outreach, and describes all programming for the year. In addition to this tool, the Food Bank works with local media outlets in Athens, GA, and Clayton, GA to share the work of the Food Bank. Lastly, the Food Bank utilizes Facebook and Instagram to promote the work we do with local farmers and encourage community interaction with Food Bank programming. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Build Local Food Systems Through the partnership with UGA Extension, the Food Bank conducted training classes for over 100 farmers, food producers, and food sellers in our fourteen county region. These classes included farming best management practices, agricultural business planning, crop growth and rotation planning, healthy eating, creating healthy food systems, government and business compliance training, etc. These classes operated for 48 months and were held at both Food Bank facilities, UGA Department of Agriculture sites, and on local farms throughout the region. In January 2016, the Food Bank opened the doors of its second location, the Mount Branch in Clayton, GA. This facility is home to the Food Bank's individual quick frozen processing line, teaching kitchen facility, and commercial kitchen facility. All three of these programs were designed with social enterprise and food system incubation in mind. From April 2016 to the end of the grant period the Food Bank operated a monthly farmers market on site at our new facility in Clayton, GA. This facility served as the site to connect the community, tourism industry, and local food markets to the food producers of Northeast Georgia. This farmers market played host to 30 different vendors over the last 3 years. Lastly, the Food Bank's commercial kitchen has been the home of six local food producers over the last 2 years. These chef's, restauranteurs, and small businesses have used the facility on a weekly basis to create products for sale in various markets. Additionally, this funding contributed to an updated website and e-commerce portal for the Food Bank's network. This streamlined the process of offering fresh, frozen, local produce to ournetwork for distribution. Build Self Sufficiency The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia has focused on building self-sufficiency in the lives of our community members through healthy food distribution and nutrition education. Over the course of this grant, the Food Bank has distributed over 500,000 pounds of fresh frozen produce to the food insecure community of Georgia at large. This distribution was done through our own food banking network and through other food banks in the Georgia Food Bank Association. The Food Bank's teaching kitchen and teaching garden have been home to classes for hundreds of children, families, and adults on subjects ranging from how to affordablyutilize more produce to heart-healthy cooking. This food distribution strategy gave families access tohealthy food they might not have had access to. The nutrition education then taught families how to make this food an everyday part of their lives. Distribute Local Food From 2014 to 2019 the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia distributed 501,919 pounds of fresh frozen, local and regional produce back to the food insecure community of Georgia. This food was sourced from growers and farmers through the network created by this grant program.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:There are three target audiences of this CFP during the current reporting period: fruit and vegetable growers, shareholders in the produce markets of the southeast region, and low income, food insecure residents of Georgia. Changes/Problems:The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia requested a twelve month extension on this CFP and recieved a six month extension. This moved the project end date to 2/28/2019. The extension was requested primarily due to staff turnover in the Food Hub Manager position and matenance issues with equipment on in the IQF program. The Food Bank hired its second Food Hub manager in less than a year in May 2017. While this manager made great progress in reestablishing contact and partnerships with 23 local farmers in Northeast Georgia, this process still forced the project to spend a considerable amount of time restarting the negotiation and logistics phase of bringing farmers into the Food Hub.The goals of the Food Hub and Food Hub Manager for the year were to begin encouraging farmers to grow certain crops specifically for the IQF program. However, due to this employee turnover, this staff position spent the next year working to reestablish a relationship and good faith with the farm community in the region. Additionally, the Food Hub manager was working on creating supplier contracts with regional school systems and restaurants to create retail sales opportunities for local farmers. The turnover time of four months between Food Hub Managers meant that the new manager had to start the contract process again. This pushed the goals of the Food Hub back by twelve months, as much of the work from the previous year had to be repeated. In June 2017, the Food Bank experienced mechanical problems with the Instant Quick Freeze Line. The boiler began to have small problems in May, which caused the Food Bank to bring in a food manufacturing consultant pro bono to investigate the operation of the line. The problem was narrowed down to the water boiler. The problems escalated from a small viewing port being replaced, to a water pump being replaced, to eventually the entire fire tube system being replaced. This investigation discovered that the boiler had been improperly stored by the manufacturer before installation, and led to all the repairs being under warranty. While this entire situation was resolved within two months, the IQF line was out of operation during this entire time. Unfortunately, this was the same time that our new Food Hub Manager was reopening the relationship with local farmers to purchase produce for IQF preservation and hunger relief distribution. These mechanical failures meant that we could not actively preserve or store produce for a crucial two month time period during the middle of the growing season. The Mountain Branch Director is now overseeing the realitionships with local farms and regional suppliers personally. In addition, the IQF line is back up to full speed, and is being utilized for the contracting process stated in the goals for next grant period section of this report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Julia Gaskin, the Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has continued farm and food market training through this grant program in FY 2018. The following is the execerpt from her report on grant activies in current period. These activities completed the planned programming and utilized the full budget alloted to this portion of the grant project. MARCH NE Ga Vegetable Production Meeting/ANR Update/Food Hub iQF Tour - Attending: 82 Participants; 30 farmers, 10 industry, 42 UGA Faculty & Staff. Review of current vegetable pest management practices, production techniques, and varietal selection. Food Hub iQF tour for producers and ANR Agents to familiarize them with the processing capabilities at the facility and benefits of flash freeze for vegetable producers. APRIL Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Training -Attending: 36 Participants; 28 farmers, 4 industry, 4 UGA Faculty & Staff. Delivered to local produce growers the Food Safety Alliance standardized curriculum meeting the regulatory requirements of the Produce Safety Rule under FSMA. The course provided a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices, co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. JUNE UGA Extension/Food Hub Teaching Kitchen Cancer Prevention Cooking Class. Attending: 9 participants, Food Hub, UGA, and volunteer personnel. Delivered information and hands on training in how to reduce the risk of cancer through a balanced and healthful diet. UGA Extension/Food Hub Teaching Kitchen "Right Bite" Diabetes Cooking Class (Modifying Recipes). Attending: 9 Participants, Food Hub, UGA, and volunteer personnel. Delivered information and hands on training in how to select and prepare food for people affected by diabetes. UGA Extension/Food Hub Teaching Kitchen "Right Bite" Diabetes Cooking Class (Understanding Food Labels). Attending: 9 Participants, Food Hub, UGA, and volunteer personnel. Delivered information and hands on training in how to select and prepare food for people affected by diabetes. Farm to Food Camp for Kids held 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Attending: 24 Campers, UGA, Food Hub, and volunteer personnel. In 2018, this Farm to Food Camp for Kids offered youth from Rabun and Habersham Counties an opportunity to tour the Food Hub Teaching Kitchen and iQF facility to help give them an understanding of the youth centered programing offered at the Teaching Kitchen and the processing and distribution benefits provided to local produce growers through the iQF. JULY UGA Extension/Food Hub Teaching Kitchen "Right Bite" Diabetes Cooking Class (Portion Control). Attending: 9 Participants, UGA, Food Hub, and volunteer personnel. Delivered information and hands on training in how to select and prepare food for people affected by diabetes. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia reports all program statistics to stakeholders through an annual report. This totals our distribution, outreach, and describes all programing for the year. In addition to this tool, the Food Bank works with local media outlets in Athens, GA and Clayton, GA to share the work of the Food Bank. Lastly, the Food Bank utilizes Facebook and Instagram to promote the work we do with local farmers, and encourage community interaction with Food Bank programming. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Food Bank is working with a marketing firm to design a new e-commerce site to be utilized by our partner agencies and food banks around the country. This tool will help us promote and captilize on the market realtionships with the hunger relief network of Georgia and the entire Feeding America member network. Additionally, the Food Bank has just purchased an upgrade to our food banking software liscense, Primarius, to make our entire inventory system live online. This software upgrade will synchronize with the new e-commerce system being provided by our consultant, Kaptiv8, to maximize the markets and market penetration we can provide to the farmers of northeast Georgia. The Food Bank is working with local food production companies in northeast Georgia to create long lasting products through our IQF program. The program has new contracts with local food producers to both produce a consistent supply of frozen product, and store the product until sale. In this way, the Food Hub is working on the goal of bringing in local food and helping to create markets for food business. The Food Bank will continue to distribute fresh frozen, local and regional produce to the food insecure population of northeast Georgia and beyond. The Food Bank is working with the Georgia Food Bank Association to produce consistent orders for the state wide distribution netowrk to increase the amount of produce in low income families' diets.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Build the Local Food System In the current grant period, the Food Bank worked with 23 local farms in Northeast Georgia. The Food Bank sourced produce from these farms and helped provide markets through the Food Hub and onsite farmer's market each week. The Mountain Branch Director, James Brim, works directly with the farmers, and the Food Bank has requested they grow specific produce for preservation and distribution to the local school districts. The Food Bank has provided local produce to three school districts during FY 2018. Build Self Sufficiency This grant program has distributed fresh frozen, local produce to an estimated 7,500 households in FY 2018. Distribute local produce The Food Bank distributed 181,953 pounds of local and regional, fresh frozen produce in FY 2018. This produce was sourced through local farms and the Southeastern Regional Cooperative. It was distributed through the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's network of 230 smaller, hunger relief non-profits, as well as other Georgia Food Bank Association food banks.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Fruit and vegetable growers Markets Low income residents Changes/Problems:The decision to market the produce available from the Food Hub under the Food Posse label was confirmed A new Food Hub manager began work on March 27, 2017 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?There were 10 NIFA grant teaching kitchen programs held during the entire fiscal year that included 91 participants and Forty-Seven Cooking Matters programs of various topicsconducted through the year with a total of 626 participants. UGA Rabun County Extension Agent, John Scaduto and Food Hub Manager, Kenny Creel assisted Neal and Dale James through the summer as they prepared for GAP certification of their farm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through various media outlets including the Clayton Tribune, The Red and Black, and Cox media outlets as well as through stakeholder meetings and conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The Food Bank/Food Hub will be assuming oversight of the local farmer's market held at the Food Bank/Food Hub site. This will increase the opportunity for networking and will increase the visibility of the Food Hub as a viable partner for a mutually beneficial relationship. Conversations and networking with farmers/growers will continue with the intent that they grow crops specifically for the Food Hub next season. Additional markets, especially with regards to the school system, will be identified and planned for in order to take advantage of the available produce. We will be attending the ASAP conference in February to continue our efforts to reach more farmers and markets.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Markets The decision to market the produce available from the Food Hub under the Food Posse label was confirmed. For the previous year, a total of 241,000 pounds of produce was processed at the Food Hub. This total included both produce that was donated and available for agency use and produce provided by farmers/growers and made available for retail sales. Mountain Earth Farms in Clarkesville, GA (Ronnie Mathis) has provided fresh strawberries, blackberries, and potatoes to the Food Hub where they were frozen, stored, and sold or are in the process of being sold. The James Brothers farmers in Dillard, GA (Neal and Dale James) have provided 8000 pounds of squash that is frozen, stored, and sold or is in the process of being sold. Discussions continue with them to plant crops specifically for the Food Hub. New Sprouts Organic Farms in Ashville, N.C. (Andrew Rose) is interested in providing an assortment of vegetable produce to the Food Hub; currently the permit to cross state lines is being routed for approval to facilitate this new partnership. Networking is ongoing to market the frozen produce to restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and the general public. To further aid the effort to find available markets, a meeting was held with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and plans are being made to attend their conference in February 2018 where both market representatives and farmers will be in attendance. Support the Growth of Local Farms In conjunction with UGA Extension Agent, John Scaduto, assistance was provided to the James Brothers as they prepared for, and successfully achieved, GAP certification for their farm. An initiative to offer refrigerated storage at the Food Hub has been relayed to local farmers and businesses. This approach will provide additional income to the Food Hub and afford us the opportunity to increase our value and our networking potential with the local organizations.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Local, small-to-midsize farms: The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia has classified "local" as those farms within 150 miles of the food hub facility in Clayton, GA. The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia has classified "small-to-midsize farms" as those farms producing on < 3,000 acres. To date, The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia has reached some 35 farms within these classifications. Low-Income Residents: The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia has classified "Low-Income Residents" as those individuals falling under ERS/USDA definitions for "Poverty" and "Food Insecure". As of 2010, the population of the five counties served directly by the Food Hub of NortheastGeorgiawas 123,107. Using 2012 ERS/USDA data, Stephens (22.5%) and Rabun (19.9%) have poverty rates above the state average of 19.2%. The percentage of children in poverty is above the state average of 27.3% in four counties; in Stephens and Rabun, one out of three children lives in poverty. According to the Food Environment Atlas, all five counties have household food insecurity rates of 16.9%, well above the national average of 15.9%. In the context of this reporting period, The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia directly reached 85 adults and children who fall under this category. Local Community At-Large: The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia has classified "Local Community At-Large" as those individuals living in the five-county service area consisting of Habersham, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White Counties in Northeast Georgia. Changes/Problems:In April 2016, the Rabun County Cooperative Extension Agent, Amber Bulloch, left her position with UGA Extension to take a job in the private sector. This position was not filled until August 1st. John Scaduto is the new Cooperative Extension agent and has already been working closely with the food hub and developing projects for the coming year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objective 1) Through the partnership between the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, project personnel conducted 30 farm visits, andfacilitated 13 workshops on farm-focused topics, including small fruit production soil health and fertility crop rotation, pest management, and pesticide seasonality and crop selection vegetable and herb production vegetable diseases small farm business planning farm food safety (Food Safety Modernization Act) Objective 2) Utilizing the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's Teaching Kitchen, the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia offered a six-hourtraining sessionon cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables to 80 cafeteria workers from Habersham County Schools in June 2016. The objective of this training was to improve knowledge and skills on using fresh fruits and vegetables in a school cafeteria setting. Objective 3) The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia hosted a Society of Saint Andrew traning session for local residents interested in joining SOSA. This SOSA chapter, established in September 2015, assists the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia in feild gleaning activities at local farms. These efforts have resulted in some 2000 lbs of donated local produce to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia that was made available to the local needy community. Additionally, the food bank is now partnering with Concrete Jungle, netting the food bank some 3,750 lbs of donated local produce. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?All objectives have been communicated largely through local media outlets: Payne, Mat. "Food Bank's food hub taking shape". The Clayton Tribune. October 22, 2015. A3. "2015 Yearin Review". The Clayton Tribune. December 24, 2015. A1. Radio Interview. SKY 104 Coffee Talk. September 9, 2014. Studdard, Megan. "Food Bank's Food Hub progressing". The Clayton Tribune. February 4, 2016. A2. Hawk, Rob. "Food Hub of Northeast Georgia". NC Cooperative Extension (Website). https://jackson.ces.ncsu.edu/2016/02/food-hub-of-northeast-georgia/ February 12, 2016. Studdard, Megan. "Food Bank's teaching kitchen cooks up nutrition". March 31, 2016. A2. Studdard, Megan. "Food Bank of Northeast Georgia director focuses on production". The Clayton Tribune. April 21, 2016. A9. Payne, Mat. "Farm to Table tours entice tourists". The Clayton Tribune. April 28, 2016. A3. Payne, Mat. "Grow, Cook, Eat". The Clayton Tribune. May 26, 2016. A10 Payne, Mat and Studdard, Megan. "Farm tour features local businesses". The Clayton Tribune. June 23, 2016. A3. Studdard, Megan. "Langston to head Teaching Kitchen". The Clayton Tribune. June 23, 2016. A1. Studdard, Megan. "Food Hub grand opening set". The Clayton Tribune. July 14, 2016. A3. Radio Interview. WPPR 88.3 Community Life in Northeast Georgia. July 22, 2016. Studdard, Megan. "Northeast Georgia Food Bank open for business" The Clayton Tribune. July 28, 2016. A1. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1) The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia, leveraging its partnership with Aggrigator, INC., will continue to add farmers to the Aggrigator platform and help to streamline the platform to best fit farmer needs. Through the platform, the food hub will be transacting this growing season at a limited rate, and will realize the full capabilities of the platform beginning with crop planning this winter. Objective 2) The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia will build on the success of this past spring's Garden to Table series, working withat-risk, low-incomestudents and their parents on food production and healthier eating strategies. Additionally, the food hub is partnering with Open Hand Atlanta and Share our Strength's Cooking Matters curriculum to further our reach to our needyresidents. Finally, with a teaching kitchen coordinator in place, we will begin broadening our community course offerings to include classes onfood preservation. Objective 3) The Food Hub of Northeast Georgia will continue its partnership with the Society of St. Andrew, strengthening its gleaning program in the service area. Furthermore, as more farms are onboarded into the hub's ecosystem, the food hub manager will work with farmers to get excess produce into the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's inventory.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1) The new 38,000 square foot Food Bank of Northeast Georgia was completed for move-in on December 14, 2015. The facility supplies the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia with services, including refrigerated storage, frozen storage, dry storage, and refrigerated transportation. Additionally, qualifying farmers operating in partnership with the hub have access to the food bank's IQF (individually quick frozen) and fresh processing and packinglines. Consultants in food production are now being utilized to help maximize processing capabilities and improve line efficiencies. In the interest of building a stronger local food system, the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia partnered with Aggrigator, INC. (a Stanford University incubated start-up), to assist with hubtransactions. The Aggrigator platform provides an online transaction space for farmers and buyers and assistsin scheduling transportaiton of produce from farm to hub to buyer. Beginning in July 2016, the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia began piloting the Aggrigator software, onboarding 8 partner farms, representing ~ 3,000 acres of fruit and vegetable production. Likewise, the Food Hub of Northeast Georgiahas identified 17 buyers and onboarded them into the Aggrigator System. Once the financial pieces are onboarded (through PayPal), the hub will begin to see transactions occurring through the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's Clayton, GA and Athens, GA facilities. Objective 2) With the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's teaching kitchen complete, the proposed Garden-to-Table series was launched in January 2016. The program targeted 19 5th grade students from Cornelia Elementary (Habersham County) and 24 4th grade students from Rabun County Elementary and their parents (86 participants in total). The student audience took part in 1 class on container gardening (3 hours), 1 class on kitchen basics and safety (1 hour). The students and their parents then participated in four classes on healthy, fast meals, low salt/low sugar meals, cultural cuisine, and garden-to-table cooking (2 hours/class), totaling 860 hours of instruction time. Objective 3) During the reporting period, the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia, through its farmer partnerships, received11,098 lbs. from local farms and distributed those fruits and vegetables to needy residents in the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's 14-county service area.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Smith, Tyrie J. Winrock International Food Hub Conf. Atlanta, GA March 30 April 1, 2016 Panelist. Economics of Small Scale Processing.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Smith, Tyrie J. Winrock International Food Hub Conf. Atlanta, GA March 30 April 1, 2016 Panelist. Food Banks as Food Hubs.
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes small farms and low-income community residents in five northern Georgia counties. Changes/Problems:For "Outcome 2" we had initially partnered with Rabun County Head Start as our means of accessing low-income residents for these programs. The Food Hub manager prepared a program agenda and information packet for the head start staff and parents of head start students were presented with the opportunities listed under this outcome. However, the parents were wholly unreceptive to the program. We are altering our approach by working through our Farm to School programs in Rabun and Habersham counties. Through this avenue, we will be able to meet the quantified goals for years 1 and 2 in the spring 2016 through summer 2016. Under "Outcome 4" progress was delayed due to a few factors: 1) one of our main representatives, Teri Hamlin, had to recuse due to health reasons, 2) there was turnover with two of our initial members and their respective organizations, 3) our county extension agent partner was not hired until April 1, 2015 - as Rabun County has not had an agent in over three years, her time was limited - and 4) we have had difficulty filling out the committee with a representative from the wholesale/distribution side. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through our partnership and subaward agreement with UGA Cooperative Extension we have held a number of professional development and educational workshops for farmers in our 5-county region. These classes include: Niche Farmer, Farming with High Tunnels :: August 18, 2015 :: 46 participants Small Fruits :: September 10, 2015 :: 31 participants Small Farm Business Planning :: October 15, 2015 :: 44 participants How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia has been spreading the word about its progress and programs through local media outlets and its 2015 Annual Report. Local media outlets include: The Clayton Tribune The Northeast Georgian Georgia Public Broadcasting The Athens Banner-Herald The Red & Black The Broad Collective What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Outcome 1: Through UGA Cooperative Extension we will offer a number of professional development opportunities in the coming months. These include: Small Farm Business Planning (Small Business Development Center, UGA) :: November 10, 2015 Farm Food Safety Training (with WinRock and Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Assoc.) :: December 1-2, 2015 Small Fruit and Vegetable production (7-week course) :: March-April, 2016 These trainings represent a gateway for small and emerging farms to begin thinking about the means with which to produce for market. In conjunction with these workshops, we will be working one-on-one with farmers to develop market specific farm plans to best meet market demand and reach financial stability. Outcome 2: We are collaborating with schools in Rabun and Habersham County through our Farm to School program to improve success with "Garden to Table" as well as "Healthy Eating on a Budget" and "Summer Food Preservation". Outcome 3: Continue to collaborate with local farmers and SOSA on field gleaning to increase locally-grown food to our local communities through our Food Bank agencies. Outcome 4: The food hub made hard contact with a wholesale representative on 10/28/2015 and are working with that individual to complete the committee. Once this individual is onboard, we will begin holding monthly meetings.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
NIFA Project Outcome 1: Support the Growth of Small Local Farms Small Farm Business Planning Through our subaward with the University of Georgia, Small Farm Business Planning Classes have begun with a six-hour seminar and workshop through AgAware held on October 15th. There were 44 farmers in attendance, including 13 fruit and vegetable farmers. Co-project director Julia Gaskin (UGA) elected to replace the SARE curriculum with AgAware's workshop for young, beginning, small, and minority farmers. The next class is scheduled for November 10th, a two-hour workshop class with UGA's Small Business Development Center. Currently 24 farmers are signed up for this class. From April, 2015 to October, 2015, Rabun County Extension agent, Amber Arrington, has conducted 105 farmer site visits. Arrington has engaged farmers in approximately 80 hours of technical assistance. Site visits with farmers included topics such as the use of cover crops, vegetable variety selection, mulch selection, soil sampling and nutrient availability, and insect, disease, and weed control. Markets: We have small farms ready for production and sales to retail markets. These farms are Chattooga Belle in Long Creek, SC and Mountain Earth in Clarkesville, GA. Both farms will be processing with the food hub in the spring of 2016 and their products will be available on the wholesale market. Additionally, Wide Bottom and Melon Head, both in Clarkesville, GA, are preparing for ramp up in order to sell to local institutional (school) markets in 2016. In all four cases, we are sharing market-specific requests regarding products in demand. We have been implementing plans for farm ramp-up and farm planning. We are also focusing on helping local farms develop food safety measures for appropriate tracking/traceability required by wholesale/retail markets and assisting those currently using no-chemical, sustainable methods to achieve USDA Organic certification necessary for organic labeling on the wholesale/retail markets. In regard to ALL farmers, we are providing farm planning services, farm business planning workshops, and farm food safety training (GAP, FSMA) to prepare them for these markets. Initially, we thought small, independent restaurants could be a potential answer - one that would match with our farmer demographic (smaller, "hobby" farms, producing "organic" [CNG] vegetables) and provide a means of improving local farm sustainability. We learned that many of those chefs focusing on farm-to-table marketing prefer having one-on-one relationships with their farmers and buy direct. Liz Penney has been investigating some online market software that could allow for direct sales between farmers and restaurants, with the farms paying the hub for processing, packing, distribution, and/or marketing services as needed. Through the Food Bank's commitment to Farm to School, the school cafeteria market has voiced the most vocal interest in acquiring locally-sourced produce. School nutritionists have specific fruit and vegetable needs that are easily translated into farm plans for local farms and that can be satisfied through procurement and processing. For the 2014-15 school year, Rabun county Schools procured locally-grown okra through a bulk contract with one local farm. Habersham County procured cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, apples, and yellow squash through bulk contracts with three local farms. We are currently exploring low-cost procurement scenarios to meet the need of our schools whilst also providing farmers a sustainable market and the hub a sustainable cost-recovery and/or profit margin on the sale. In January, we connected with Susan Pavlin of Global Growers Network in Atlanta. Pavlin is currently expanding her markets throughout metro-Atlanta area, including institutional markets and franchise restaurants, some of which she has easy access to through Common Market Philadelphia's contracts with dining services companies such as Compass , Sysco, and Aramark. These markets can be made available to our local growers through this partnership. We are currently in talks with Northeast Georgia Locally Grown, a local online direct sales market, discussing a potential partnership. NGLG is exploring the logistics of the Food Hub of Northeast Georgia taking over as the organization's fiscal agent and assisting NGLG in managing its operations. NGLG currently represents approximately 40 local farmers, providing them the online market and distribution services. NIFA Project Outcome 2: Improve Self-Sufficiency and Diets of Low-Income Residents Due to low interest among the constituents of our community partners at Head Start/Community Partners on this piece, we are reevaluating our processes to fulfill this project outcome. We are revamping this project to work in coordination with our Farm to School campus gardens at the Rabun County Schools complex and Cornelia Elementary in Habersham County. Through our Food Corps volunteers, we have identified three classes of students (1 at Rabun and 2 at Cornelia) with which to develop this program and carry it from the school gardens to the students' homes to our teaching kitchen. In the spring of 2016 we will have ~60 students and their parents participating in this program. NIFA Project Outcome 3: Increase Distribution of Local Food to the Needy With help from community leaders, we were able to organize a presentation between the food hub and the Society of Saint Andrew made to community stakeholder representatives from area churches, schools, and civic organizations. SOSA is now establishing a local chapter, to which the food hub is providing technical assistance and volunteer coordination for field gleaning in the five-county area. SOSA has already held five successful gleanings in our service area. With SOSA's established reputation as gleaning "professionals," and the hub's processing and storage capabilities, we are increasing access for our in-need and food-insecure residents to local fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in the field. We continue to receive food from local farms, including Lady Bug Farms in Clayton, GA , River Hawk Farms in Clarkesville, GA, Glory Seeds in Clayton, GA, Jaemor Farm in Alto, GA and the Hartampf family farm in Scaly Mountain, NC. We have received 9,959 pounds in donated produce this year from local farms. NIFA Project Outcome 4: Steering Committee Engagement The initial Steering Committee suffered some setbacks due to member drop off, losing four members to various reason. In June, we began anew, forming the following committee: Amber Arrington, UGA Cooperative Extension - Rabun County Maggie Van Cantfort, Northeast Georgia Regional Coordinator, Georgia Organics Farm to School Chuck Mashburn, North Georgia Locally Grown, Georgia Mountain Food Network, Simply Home Grown/SMLC Teresa Franklin, Rabun County Head Start Andrea Thomas, Director of Nutrition Services, Habersham County Schools Cindi Dean, School Nutrition Director, Rabun County Lynn Pattillo, Pittuloch Foundation Tammy Whitmire, Elections Supervisor, Rabun County Georgia Malinda James, Osage Farms, Rabun County TJ Smith, Food Hub Manager, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia In August, a secondary Advisory Committee was formed, including: Lynn Patillo and Glenn Cohen, Pittuloch Foundation Claude Rickman, Pete Halter, Steve Raeber, Lake Rabun Association Ken Cox, UsedMan Forklifts Alan Price, Buzz Stone, Leckie Stack, Development Authority of Rabun County Bob Fink, Rabun County Board of Commissioners John Graham, Chairman Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Board of Directors G.A. Nasworthy, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Board of Directors We are currently courting representatives from the Wholesale/Distribution side of the equation to complete the steering committee. The advisory committee is currently meeting to iron out logistical challenges concerning the food hub build out.
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