2005 Annual Report for LNE05-219
Farm to chef: Increasing farmer and chef capacity for marketing and purchasing agricultural products in western Pennsylvania
Summary
The proposed Farm to Chef project will connect farmers with chefs in the hopes of facilitating the selling and purchasing of agricultural products between farms and restaurants. The project will teach farmers how to sell to restaurants, where to find interested chefs, and what products to grow. This Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) project will also teach chefs what type of products are available, where to buy these products, and when to buy them. PASA will design and produce farmer and chef surveys, promote the project to farmers and chefs in western Pennsylvania, design and implement networking and learning opportunities for farmers and chefs, list interested farms and chefs in the Farm Fresh Guide and Sheet, and provide technical assistance. We will evaluate both the successes of our engagement activities and farm sales to participating restaurants.
Objectives/Performance Targets
Performance target: Of the 500 farmers and 200 chefs who learn about the project, 70 farmers will open new markets by selling at least $5,000 of their products to 50 chefs by 2008.
Milestone 1: Five hundred farmers and 200 chefs will learn about the project through newsletters, press releases, presentations, phone calls, mailings, and web sites;
Milestone 2: Three hundred and fifty farmers and 150 chefs will contact us and explain their interest in selling to chefs and buying from farmers;
Milestone 3: Two hundred and fifty farmers and 125 chefs will agree to participate in the project and list their businesses in the Farm Fresh Guide and Sheet;
Milestone 4: One hundred and seventy five farmers and 75 chefs will attend at least two events while the farmers begin using the guide to sell their agricultural products to chefs and the chefs begin using the Farm Fresh Sheet to purchase farm products;
Milestone 5: Seventy farmers and 50 chefs will seek technical assistance during their second year of participation in the project.
Accomplishments/Milestones
Milestones
Task 1. Design and produce farmer and chef surveys. As we are talking with farmers and chefs about the project, we will need to have surveys developed to compile the farmer and chef information. The survey for farmers will collect contact information, products available, and delivery schedule. The survey for chefs will collect contact information, time of day to call, products they’re interested in purchasing, and delivery schedule. Development of these materials will be done by October 2005.
Progress to date: We have completed the farmer and chef surveys.
Task 2. Promote the project to farmers and chefs in western Pennsylvania. We will utilize our connections with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Penn State University Cooperative Extension, Pennsylvania Conservation Districts, Project Grass, regional restaurants, and the American Culinary Federation to promote the project. We will prepare press releases for regional newspapers, presentation for conference workshops, and notices for newsletters, web sites, email, and U.S. postal mail. We will promote the project from November 2005 to March 2006.
Progress to date: We have begun to circulate surveys and research and confirm outlets of promotion.
Task 3. Design and implement networking and learning opportunities for farmers and chefs. We will design nine events that will provide information and hands-on learning opportunities for both farmers and chefs. There will be three Farm to Chef meetings held in the region focusing on establishing relationships with chefs, determining what to grow for restaurants and how to prepare items for delivery, and teaching chefs about the seasonality of products. A total of four local food events will be held in the region to promote the purchasing and preparation of local foods. Chefs will develop the menus for the events and local farms will supply the food. The last two events will be field days where farmers and chefs will receive hands-on lessons about selling to restaurants and purchasing from farms. One field day will be held at a farm and the other will be held at a restaurant. The design and implementation of these events will take place from March 2006 to October 2007.
Task 4. List interested farms and chefs in the Farm Fresh Guide and Sheet. As interested farmers and chefs begin to respond to our promotions, we will begin to survey each group. The information we obtain will then be placed in the Farm Fresh Guide. The guide will list all interested farms and restaurants from the 19 county region. The Farm Fresh Sheet will list all the farms interested in selling to restaurants and what each farm has to sell for the current week. The development of the Farm Fresh Guide will be completed and distributed by June 2006. The Fresh Sheet will also be completed by June 2006 and distributed to chefs from June 2006 to December 2007.
Task 5. Provide technical assistance. We will contact both the farmers and chefs participating in the project by phone and email between the networking and educational events to question them about their progress and provide them with technical assistance. On farm meetings will also be scheduled. This task will begin in June 2006 and end in December 2007. We hope to provide assistance to participants from their first deliveries and orders up to the point when 70 farmers have opened new markets by selling at least $5,000 of their products to 50 chefs.
Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes
The survey instruments for both the farmers and chefs have been completed and are being distributed to farmers and chefs who are members of PASA. In order to reach a larger audience, press releases are being sent to a number of sources. These sources include the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Penn State University Cooperative Extension, Pennsylvania Conservation Districts, Project Grass, regional restaurants, the American Culinary Federation and regional media outlets.