Increasing the Professional Technical Support for Local, Sustainable Food Distribution Systems in the Southern Region

Increasing the Professional Technical Support for Local, Sustainable Food Distribution Systems in the Southern Region

Summary

Through this project, Southern SAWG is facilitating a learning network of agricultural professionals, NGO assistance providers and farmers from across the southern region who are assisting farmers and community members in strengthening local, sustainable food distribution systems by developing regional food hubs or food value chains. 

In the second year of this project, we conducted two webinars and held three conference calls for facilitated discussions among learning group members and other food hub experts.  In January 2015 we conducted numerous educational workshops and a networking meeting for learning group members at the Southern SAWG conference in Mobile, AL.  We also facilitated the development of relationships by putting members in leadership positions on conference calls and in webinars and workshops, and by encouraging conversations during each learning activity. 

Throughout the year, we communicated regularly with learning network members through informative emails that provided descriptions and links to useful resources, notices of events, and other key information that followed up on the webinars, conference calls, and conference workshops.  We posted recordings of our webinars and conference presentations on the Southern SAWG website, and promoted these to both learning group members and the general public.

Feedback from all learning activities showed that participants were highly engaged and were gaining understanding, resources, tools and professional relationships that could be used to support the development of regional food hubs and other local, sustainable food distribution systems.  Evaluations from the conference sessions showed that all participants learned something absolutely useful for food hub development.  67-91% definitely expect to use what they learned in their work within the next year, while most others possibly expect to use it within the next year. 

Objectives/Performance Targets

The overall goal of this project is to equip Cooperative Extension agents, USDA field personnel, NGO technical assistance providers, and other agricultural professionals and educators in the southern region with the tools and resources to provide effective technical support to farmers and community members who are developing or strengthening local, sustainable food distribution systems. 

Objective 1: At least 50 agricultural professionals will participate in a learning network with associated training on local, sustainable food distribution systems offered through this project.  Lessons to be taught will include, but not be limited to: key factors that contribute to the success or failure of regional food hub and food value chain activities, how to finance stages of development and reduce risk, options for legal business structures, and methods for assessing community assets that could be components of a regional food hub.

Objective 2: Participants will gain improved understanding of the keys to effective development of local, sustainable food distribution systems, and how their work can be of assistance to this development. 

Objective 3: Participants will gain access to tools and resources that can be readily used by agricultural professionals or other community members to support the development of local, sustainable food distribution systems.  They will include user-friendly electronic materials available online or on CD that they will share with others or refer to when called upon to provide needed technical information.

Objective 4: Participants will gain access to professional relationships with other agricultural professionals across the region working on similar issues who they can contact for specific information needs.  They will draw on these contacts when called upon to provide needed technical assistance.

Objective 5: Participants will gain improved capacity to deliver technical assistance to producers and community members seeking to develop local, sustainable food distribution systems.  This capacity will be gained by utilizing the information presented in the training, through the newly accessed tools and resources, and through continued networking with other learning network members.   

Accomplishments/Milestones

In the second year of this project, we conducted two webinars and three conference calls for facilitated discussions.  The webinars and two of the follow-up conference calls included:

So You Think a Food Hub is Right for You webinar on May 14, 2014 and follow-up conference call on May 28.

Description:  So you want to start a regional food hub or food value chain business.  Or you are assisting someone who is exploring the possibility.  This webinar will help you walk through some of the critical first steps including:

• How can you assess your local food system and make an informed decision about an entity or service that can fill a needed gap? 
• How can you figure out how to position yourself in the local food system and what roles or services to take on? 
• Once you have an idea of your position, what are the options for business models that might suit your role or service well?
• How can you create strong, mutually beneficial relationships with local farmers? 
• How can you communicate truthfully about the benefits and expectations of marketing through this business?

Presenters: Tina Prevatte, Co-CEO, Firsthand Foods (NC); Kathlyn Terry, Executive Director, Appalachian Sustainable Development (VA); and Eric Bendfelt, Community Viability Specialist, Virginia Cooperation Extension Service (VA).

27 attended (including 3 others from outside the learning group). Another 89 people have accessed the archived webinar posted on the SSAWG website.

Developing Food Hubs with Limited Resource Producers and in Low Income Communities webinar on August 18, 2014 and follow-up conference call on August 20.
Description: Andrew Williams and Glyen Holmes will discuss how to be resourceful and creative in developing food hubs with limited resource producers and in low income communities. Using examples from their work in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, they will address the following issues:

• Creating awareness (i.e. the interest in producing and purchasing local foods)
• Funding strategies
• Finding and developing infrastructure
• Marketing strategies
• Sustaining efforts after the start-up phase

Presenters: Glyen Holmes, New North Florida Cooperative (FL); and Andrew Williams, Deep South Food Alliance (AL).

25 attended (including 3 others from outside the learning group).  Another 23 people have accessed the archived webinar posted on the SSAWG website.

In addition, we conducted a facilitated conference call on November 5, 2014 that built on the content of a previous NGFN webinar called the Business of Food Hubs.  (This was identified as a high need among learning group members, but we didn’t want to duplicate what had been done earlier by this NGFN webinar.)

Description: Want to learn more about conducting a feasibility study and carrying out business planning for a food hub venture?  We recommend that you watch an excellent webinar produced by the National Good Food Network (NGFN), and then join us for a one hour dialogue with Kathy Nyquist and Saloni Doshi of New Venture Advisors.  Both are highly skilled business advisors who work directly with food hubs.

First, watch this webinar at your own convenience: “Business of Food Hubs: Planning Successful Regional Produce Aggregation Facilities” <http://www.ngfn.org/resources/ngfn-cluster-calls/the-business-of-food-hubs>  During the “Business of Food Hubs” webinar, Kathy Nyquist walks the audience through simple steps for creating a feasibility study for a food hub venture.  She uses examples from two feasibility studies, one in Illinois and one in Virginia.  It is useful information for both new and existing food hubs, and it will provide excellent background information for the November 5th conference call.

Then, join our conference call.  This call will provide learning network members an opportunity to dialogue with Kathy and her colleague Saloni Doshi about feasibility studies and business planning. 

14 attended (including 4 others from outside the learning group).  More than 40 others accessed the archived audio recording posted on the SSAWG website.

On January 16-17, 2015 we conducted activities for learning group members at the Southern SAWG conference in Mobile, AL.  We built on the activities provided at our 2014 conference in year one.  We provided travel scholarships for 17 learning group members; a total of 26 learning group members attended the conference.  Besides attending numerous educational sessions that had information appropriate for food hubs, they also networked extensively.

Three educational sessions at the conference specifically addressed their food hub issues:

Financing Food Hubs (and Other Healthy Food Enterprises)

Description: Need capital? Where do you turn? There are many sources of financing for food hubs – including grants, loans, investors and other creative financing options. In this session, we’ll discuss some of the options available, and key considerations in choosing the right option based on the type of business and stage of development. The discussion will include financing available for start-ups vs. more mature businesses, and nonprofits vs. for profits. Malini Ram Moraghan, Wholesome Wave (IL); Dafina Williams, Opportunity Finance Network (PA); and Jim Barham, USDA Rural Development (DC).

55 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

Food Hub Lessons: Early Decisions

Description: Are you starting a regional food hub or assisting others in getting one off the ground? Hear examples of key decisions that some food hubs in our region made as they started out. We’ll cover topics such as business structure, financing, management, distribution and markets, and farmer recruitment. This will be a facilitated conversation to help you learn about some of the differing approaches and an opportunity to share lessons with others. Sara Clow, GrowFood Carolina (SC); Leslie Hossfeld, Feast Down East/Southeastern NC Food Systems (NC); and Jim Barham, USDA Rural Development (DC).

45 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

Food Hub Lessons: Processing and Marketing Meat

Description: Marksbury Farm Market is a small-scale, privately owned slaughterhouse and packaging facility, as well as a retail market. They sell grass-fed beef, pastured pork, poultry and lamb sourced from over 40 local farmers. Currently, Marksbury distributes their products (with their own small fleet) to restaurants, grocery stores, and institutional markets. In this session, they will discuss the unique issues facing food processing firms that market livestock products, and provide lessons for others. There will be plenty of time for questions and group discussion. John-Mark Hack and Preston Correll, Marksbury Farm Market (KY).

25 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

An audio recording along with powerpoint slides of all three 2015 conference sessions were posted to the Southern SAWG website at:  http://www.ssawg.org/webinars-presentations/   They are being promoted through SSAWG e-newsletters and social media.

We also held a facilitated discussion session at the 2015 SSAWG conference, called: 

Building a Food Hub Support Network.  Description: Learn who in our region is working on food hub development and food hub assistance. Share contacts and resources, and discuss how we can work collaboratively in the future. Facilitated by Andrew Williams, TUCCA (AL) and Robin Robbins, Appalachian Harvest (VA). 

42 attended (included many others from outside the learning group)

Many other conference sessions were conducted with the needs of the learning network in mind, and addressed their work and the work of farmers selling through food hubs, including:

• How Farm to School Programs Can Add Value to Your Farm Business

• Growing Farm Profits by Managing for Profits

• Making your Market Farm Work for You
• Pricing and Profits for Livestock Farmers

During year two of the project, we facilitated the development of relationships by putting members in leadership positions and by encouraging conversations.  Twenty-six different learning network members and other food hub leaders were given the chance to either lead or facilitate presentations through our project’s workshop sessions, networking meetings, webinars and conference calls.  At the end of each conference workshop and webinar, we facilitated question and answer sessions, encouraging group interaction.  And our conference calls were moderated as open discussions on topics covered in the webinars.

We also communicated regularly with learning network members through informative emails sent throughout year two.  In these emails we provided descriptions and links to useful resources, notices of events, and other key information that followed up on the webinars, conference calls, and conference workshops.

We connected our network members to other resources for food hub learning by highlighting key developments through our email communication and in workshops.  Resources included the USDA online food hub directory, a food hub benchmarking study led by the Wallace Center and Michigan State University, the new food hub management program at the University of Vermont, and the NFGN Food Hub Collaboration Discussion Group.

With the flood of food hub resources becoming available, we realized that many ag professionals who don’t have a specific food hub focus may have a hard time quickly finding what a client might need.  So, as a final piece of this project, we are now putting together a small “starter kit” of annotated resources for ag professionals and others who are first exploring the concept of a food hub.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The following is a summary of the evaluations from the 2015 conference sessions.

Financing Food Hubs (and Other Healthy Food Enterprises)

55 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

Post-session survey results:

When asked if they learned something useful, 67% replied yes absolutely and 33% replied yes moderately.  When asked if they expect to use information learned in this session within the next year, 49% replied yes absolutely and 44% replied yes possibly.  When asked if they would attend another session by these presenters, 67% replied yes absolutely and 26% replied yes possibly.

Food Hub Lessons: Early Decisions

45 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

Post-session survey results:

When asked if they learned something useful, 91% replied yes absolutely and 9% replied yes moderately.  When asked if they expect to use information learned in this session within the next year, 76% replied yes absolutely and 21% replied yes possibly.  When asked if they would attend another session by these presenters, 76% replied yes absolutely and 24% replied yes possibly.

Food Hub Lessons: Processing and Marketing Meat

25 attended (included others from outside the learning group)

Post-session survey results:

When asked if they learned something useful, 75% replied yes absolutely and 25% replied yes moderately.  When asked if they expect to use information learned in this session within the next year, 31% replied yes absolutely and 56% replied yes possibly.  When asked if they would attend another session by these presenters, 69% replied yes absolutely and 25% replied yes possibly.

Building a Food Hub Support Network meeting

42 attended (included many others from outside the learning group)

Feedback: Most people want to continue a dialogue among those working on food hubs in the South.  Some are interested in creating a learning journey that would include cross-training or sharing of resources and knowledge between operating food hubs.  Many others are just getting started and would like to visit hubs or hear more stories with lessons learned.

 
Overall Impacts and Outcomes

All of the feedback we’ve received, both formally through surveys and informally through conversations with learning group members, indicate that they are gaining improved understanding of the keys to effective development of local, sustainable food distribution systems, and they are gaining improved capacity to deliver technical assistance to producers and community members seeking to develop regional food hubs.  They are more aware of specific tools and resources that are available to assist producers and community members in developing food hubs.  And for those who participated in learning group activities, they have increased their relationships with others who have experience and expertise that they can call on.

Perhaps the most important outcome of this project so far, is that most learning group participants are learning just how difficult and complex it is to develop a successful food hub.  After each learning activity, when asked what more they needed, the list of information needs became longer and more specific.  Here is a sample of some of the needs expressed in the last few months:

• How to create a hub without major infrastructure.
• How to fund initial research /feasibility studies.
• Examples of how much capital was required for successful hubs to get started.
• More info on mature food hub financing.
• Info about software for on-line ordering systems.
• More on GAP for distributors and warehouses.
• Food safety training.
• Help in marketing and sales to chefs.
• How to initiate and develop relationships with buyer representatives.
• Details on figuring demand projections and crop planning processes.
• Financial modeling and business management.
• Balance between cash flow, grants and liquidity.
• More real life success stories.
• Tours of food hubs in our region.

This shows a more sophisticated understanding of the subject and should lead to better assistance provided.  With growing interest in food hubs and many more people exploring the possibilities, we need a larger number of assistance providers and committed community members who can help navigate this landscape.  We believe that this project has laid the groundwork for better support with several key people in the South.

Collaborators:

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