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.