Growing Local Food Networks

Beginning and emerging farmers — especially those who don’t inherit a family farm – face an evergreen challenge: finding a market for their harvest. Local and metro area farmers markets are a popular choice but have an upfront setup cost, weekly time commitments, and no guarantee of selling all crops during a bumper week.

Wholesale, the typical route of larger farmers, may be far more attractive, with contracted rates and guaranteed sales. However, those contracts are generally only available to growers with a proven track record for harvesting large yields of a particular, standard crop; there is no flexibility for unforeseen crop loss or damage. Thus, wholesale contracts can be initially out of reach.