Farms to Institutions Conference

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, networking, workshop
• Farm Business Management: business planning, farm-to-institution
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, partnerships, social networks

REAP Food Group, Wello and
FairShare CSA will build a Community of Practice for Farm to
Institutional (F2I) partners, farmers and buyers, in Wisconsin
that convene virtually on a quarterly basis and annually in a
one-day networking and training event to share and gain
knowledge, troubleshoot problems, identify infrastructure needs,
and grow local purchasing by institutions in Wisconsin.

Our project has two primary
audiences: institutional buyers and farmers interested in selling
wholesale. We intend to connect our audiences through these
quarterly virtual COP meetings and training events. Our three
organizations will manage the project through the creation of a
Coordinating Committee and a Farmer Steering Committee to help
recruit participants, set agendas and topics for meetings and
trainings, identify and recruit experienced speakers and
trainers, and lead networking sessions. Our three organizations
are strongly committed to equity and diversity, and BIPOC and
Hmoob outreach are a significant component of our farmer
recruitment.

Our primary activities for this
project are quarterly virtual meetings and two in-person events.
Our goal is 100 participants in each of our in-person events, for
a total of 200 participants. We plan to hold 10 COP virtual
meetings, and with an average of 15 participants per meeting,
anticipate connecting with 150 or more participants throughout
the course of the project. Our total engagement goal for the
project is 350 participants. We will maintain a database of event
registrations and COP participants so we can track whether we are
on track to meet this goal over the course of the
project. 

While much of our work for this
project will be virtual, we will have a need for some printed
materials. Printed products will include a detailed event packet
which will include an agenda, session summaries and speaker bios.
With 100 participants for each in-person event, printing would
include 200+ total brochures across the project. Graphic design
work will be done in-house by REAP’s Event Coordinator, and
printing done by a local printing house. 

Our organizations will be
promoting the COP virtual meetings through emails and social
media as well, so all of those materials will be available
electronically. We anticipate needing one graphic for the COP
virtual meetings to promote on social media and include in
emails, which will be designed in-house, and all agendas will be
available publicly via Google docs. 

Each Community of Practice
virtual meeting, along with all of the in-person event sessions
will be recorded and maintained on REAP’s website for public
viewing. Any slides produced by the speakers or meeting hosts
will also be available electronically and posted on REAP’s
website. 

Feedback from the events and COP
virtual meetings will be collected via surveys throughout the
project. We outline the goals of the surveys and timeline in more
detail in the Program Evaluation section.