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Working with Farmers
Learn how to work with farmers near you.Washington Food Coalition
Lunch and Learn Webinar Series
November 14, 2014
Quotes from Farmers Growers Round Table Report
“If Farmers didn’t grow food, they’d be on food stamp, like they’d be in the food pantry line.”
“Look, we have hungry people. We have hungry Farmers. We need to do right by both of them. And you giving a gift in this way will be double benefit.”
“A huge part of why I do what I do and why other farmers do what they do is to be a part of a community and to support the community and make it stronger…..”
Goals of This Webinar
We are aiming to answer your questions andmake you more comfortable when reaching out to farmers to ask for donations or consider starting a Gleaning Program
How to reach out and make initial contact with a farmer near you
How to keep and grow your farm contacts Benefits of working with Farmers Drawbacks of working with Farmers
Speakers
Max Morange
Agricultural Programs Coordinator
Bellingham Food Bank
Jeni Roberts
AmeriCorps VISTA
Harvest Against Hunger Coordinator-
Community Services of Moses Lake
Outline of Webinar
1. Overview of Programs
Bellingham Food Bank Community Services of Moses Lake
History and Background of Programs How did you first decide to work with Farmers? What were the first steps that you took? What projects are you currently working on?
2. Bellingham vs. Moses Lake
Small to Mid Sixed Farms and Large Commercial Farms Different styles of Farmers and Farms Drawbacks and positives in each area Best Practices
Questions – at the end
Questions -
Please send us your questions as we move through the webinar. We will answer them as best we can or follow up with you individually as needed.
1. Overview Bellingham Food Bank
Working with small-mid-scale farms
Bellingham Food Bank Agricultural Programs
Gleaning (200,000 lbs+ of produce per year)
Contract purchasing (15 farm partners, $120,000 per year)
Victory Gardens (30,000-50,000 lbs of produce per year)
Garden Project (building 25 raised-bed gardens per year)
1. Overview Bellingham Food Bank
Working with small-mid-scale farms
Farms in Whatcom County are split between large-scale (hundreds of acres) dairy and berry operations and smaller-scale (3-80 acres) fresh-market farms. Bellingham Food Bank’s agricultural programs generally coordinate activities such as gleaning and contract purchasing from the smaller-scale farms, though opportunities do present themselves to work with larger farms on occasion. These larger-scale donations function more similarly to any large donation made from a business in the community.
1. Overview Community Services of Moses Lake
Working with mid-large scale farms
CSML Agricultural Programs:
Giving Gardens- 4 plots where produce is all donated to food banks or Senior Centers
Plant A Row for the Hungry- 300+ local residents plant extra (or start planting) in home gardens
Production Culls- 1 million + lbs. annually
Farmers Market recovery- 5,000+ lbs. annually
Gleaning & Harvesting- 500,000+ lbs. annually
1. Overview Community Services of Moses Lake
Working with mid-large scale farms
Farms in Grant, Adams, and Lincoln Counties are mostly large-scale (hundreds of acres) potato/onion production or orchards, with a few smaller-scale (5-10 acres) market farms. The Senior Center Gleaners generally work to procure produce from the market farms and home growers. CSML tends to focus on the larger scale harvests and donations directly from packing plants.
2. Compare and Contrast Bellingham vs. Moses Lake
2. Compare and Contrast Bellingham Food Bank
3 Benefits to working with small-scale farm
Small-scale farmers generally do their own marketing, delivery, and field production, so they know what’s happening at all levels of their operation
Direct personal contact is almost always possible
Farmers who like your organization can be great ambassadors within the farming community
2. Compare and Contrast Bellingham Food Bank
3 Drawbacks to working with small-scale farm
Equipment—Small farms may not have access to forklifts, tractors, etc.
Quantities of produce may be small, so good judgment is needed on the part of a glean coordinator
Farmers running all aspects of their business are extremely busy.
2. Compare and Contrast Bellingham Food Bank
Best practices Make general contract in the off season – Coffee meetings, farm tours etc. are all
good ways.
Consistency – one phone number / point of contact.
Do not over-promise your organization’s ability to glean; forecast
Secure equipment for harvesting—make the details easy for the donor
Know the distribution system your organization uses for fielding questions
Find farmer ambassadors to spread your organization’s message
Look for ways to help farmers—it’s a two-way relationship
2. Compare and Contrast Bellingham Food Bank
Sample contracts for Seed Money Program and Food Bank Fresh
Sample Contract - Seed Money Program
March 3, 2014 Sam and Andrea Roper
Sage and Sky Farm3002 E Smith RoadBellingham, WA 98226
Dear Sam and Andrea, Please accept this offer to participate in Bellingham FoodBank’s Seed Money Program. As we discussed, yourcontract is to grow cabbage for Bellingham Food Bank.Upon confirmation that you would like to accept this offer,we will cut a check for $800 by the end of March. In returnwe would like you to grow $1600 retail value of cabbage forBellingham Food Bank’s Small Potatoes Gleaning Project toharvest. Ideally, we would harvest all of the produce yougrow for the program over the course of one to two harvestvisits that are convenient to your schedule. I will superviseany harvest that occurs and will bring appropriatecontainers. Unless it is convenient to do so at your farm,we will plan to do any post-harvest processing off site. Should there be a challenge with production, please contactme to discuss changes.
In order to facilitate the harvest, please call me at the number below Monday--Friday in order to schedule. I need at least 48 hours notice in order to recruit volunteers, and any additional notice is greatly appreciated (one week is ideal).
Bellingham Food Bank is very excited about this program, made possible by the Community Food Co-op’s Farm Fund. I believe it is an excellent way to partner with Whatcom County growers to ensure that we have a consistent supply of nutrient-dense and culturally familiar fresh produce for our clients. Thank you for being willing to participate in this program. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Please sign and return one copy of this contract to me at the address below.
Sincerely,
Max MorangeAgricultural Programs Coordinator(360) 739-5274
_____________________________________
Max Morange, Agricultural Programs CoordinatorBellingham Food Bank
_____________________________________
Sam or Andrea Roper, Sage and Sky Farm
Sample Contract - Fresh Bank Fresh
January 20, 2014 Amy and Skuter Fontaine
Terra Verde Farm806 Chestnut St.Everson, WA 98247
Dear Amy and Skuter,Thank you for your participation in the 2014 Food BankFresh Program. As has been discussed, we would like you togrow $5,000 of produce for Bellingham Food Bank in 2014:$3,000 of cabbage and $2,000 of beets. If this contract isacceptable to you, please sign it and return it. You willreceive your contract payment at the end of February.
Pricing and harvestCabbage (Any variety): we would like to buy $3,000 ofcabbage—quantities of ~312 lbs per week in the months ofJuly, August, and September at $0.80 per pound. Thisamounts to a total of 3750 lbs. Beets (Any red variety): we would like to buy $2,000 ofbulk beets (tops on or off)—quantities of ~167 lbs per weekin the months of July, August, and September at $1.00 perpound. This amounts to a total of 2000 lbs.
As I will be gleaning at your farm on Tuesdays (9am) during the months of this contract, I am happy to pick up your cabbage and beets. If you make any deliveries, they will be received by Bellingham Food Bank warehouse staff (Matt Cooper or Roland Vanden Boss) either Tuesday noon-4pm or Wednesday 8-11am. Questions about this agreement should be directed by phone or email to me.
We ask that you fill out a Bellingham Food Bank receiving document in addition to your own invoice to standardize our record keeping. Bellingham Food Bank’s receiving document will include:
· Type of produce delivered
· Number of cases of each type of produce
· Total weight of each produce type delivered
· Total cost of goods delivered
We will retain both your invoice and our internal receiving document. You need only retain your business’s invoice.
Packaging
Please package all deliveries in uniform box sizes without comingling produce types in boxes:
We recognize that this accounting is different from how most wholesale buyers do things, but since we do not sell anything, we account for things in a slightly different manner.
Bellingham Food Bank is very excited about Food Bank Fresh and believes it is an excellent way to partner with Whatcom County growers to ensure that hungry families have a consistent supply of nutrient dense and culturally familiar produce for clients. Thank you for being willing to participate in this program. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with any questions.
Sincerely,
Max Morange
Please sign and return this document in order to receive your payment for participation in 2014 Food Bank Fresh.
2. Compare and Contrast Community Services of Moses Lake
3 Benefits to working with large-scale farms
Large amount of abundance! Harvests are generally 1,000+ lbs, often multiple tons.
One Contact/Farm for 8-10 varieties of the same crops (ie: apples etc.)
Farm equipment is almost always available when needed
2. Compare and Contrast Community Services of Moses Lake
3 Drawbacks to working with large-scale farms
Farmers are often hard to find and refer you to packing plants and/or are unwilling to allow harvests.
Large Agriculture producers are on tight production schedules.
Abundance is often too great to capture enough
2. Compare and Contrast Community Services of Moses Lake
Best Practices Advertise program and willingness to glean as much as possible before
and throughout the season
Seek out and meet with farmers on off season- tours etc.
Connect with local food bank and their existing farmer relations
Ensure storage space/timely movement of donated produce
Ensure farmers understand gleans vs. harvests and where produce goes
Always carry copies of liability waivers and Good Samaritan Act to ease farmers hesitations
Judge viability of harvest - amount vs. length of drive etc.
Questions
Please send us your questions as we move through the webinar. We will answer them as best we can or follow up with you individually as needed.
Additional Resources Rotary First Harvest - http://rfhresourceguide.org/
Produce Recovery Guide & Growers Roundtable Report
Northwest Harvest – http://www.northwestharvest.org/growing-connections
Growing Connections
Washington Food Coalition – http://www.wafoodcoalition.org/resources
Good Samaritan Law and Training Manuals
Upcoming Growing Connections workshops from Northwest Harvest
As many of you know, Northwest Harvest published a resource guide for farm to food bank strategies earlier in the year.
They highlight 4 strategies: gleaning, direct purchasing, farmers market/stand gleaning and marketing your program. In our appendix we have sample forms and contracts one of them being from the Bellingham Food Bank highlighted in this webinar!
In the first of the 2015 year they will be holding workshops across the state to grow connections between food banks, farmers, and markets.
Keep a look out for an invite!
If you would like more information, please contact Laura Titzer at [email protected]
Next Lunch and Learn Webinar
Don’t miss it!December 12th from 12 – 1pm
Topic Purchasing from Farmers!
Hosts: Linsey Edmunds from NEW Hunger Coalition and Cole Bitzenburg from Community Action in Skagit County
