HOW FOOD HUBS BUILD LOCAL FOOD MARKETS
Local Food Promotion & Education
To effectively build local food markets, food hub work diligently to make local food desireable and accessable. Local food promotion programs take many forms, but commonly include Double-Up Bucks for SNAP/EBT consumers; nutrition education, recipe cards, and or cooking demonstrations; and more.
Food is
Medicine
Food as medicine refers to projects and initatives that support healthy food as a solution to and prevention for diet-related diseases, compared to traditional methods of treatment. Food as Medicine projects link healthcare with healthy food access partners.
Community Fresh Food Access
Food hubs partner with local community-based and faith-based organizations to get food where it is needed most. With grant funding, many provide produce boxes at free or reduced costs
Farmer Training
To access new markets, veteran and beginning farmers alike can benefit from training to keep abreast of new opportunities, rules and regulations, etc. Food hubs play a role in linking their farmers to educational resources and organizations, in addition to providing their own training and education resources.
Farm to School
Farm to School refers to the institutional purchasing of fresh, local food by school districts. This strategy links schools and their students with local growers and provides robust opportunity for education.
Direct Sales
Many food hubs sell directly to consumers and institutions through wholesale and retail sales. This can take the form of CSA programs, online marketplaces, or wholesale distribution lists.