Food Security Session: Growing for Community

This month, 14 participants representing various farms and food access agencies gathered for another Food Security Session focused on growing food for the community. Participants were encouraged to Connect through a roundtable introduction; Learn, as Land to Table shared examples of growing agreements and the context for why we are focused on growing agreements right now; and to Participate, through discussion regarding their reactions, sense of barriers, and expectations based on examples shared and what to work on locally. Ultimately, the goal for this session was to inform further thinking about how to develop growing agreements in our region (e.g. format, approach, considerations for success).

Connect

In a roundtable style, 14 participants shared their food system/work affiliations and what they wanted to learn about community growing partnerships. The sessions included an organic vegetable farmer, an apple orchardist and farmer from Curlew Orchard, an asparagus and strawberry farmer from Armstrong Farm Co., a representative from Okanagan Indian Band’s new Sun Valley Ranch, as well as representatives from Monashee Community Co-op, the Good Food Box of the North Okanagan, Shuswap Food Action Society, Nexus, Turning Points, Vernon’s Social Planning Council, and other engaged food system advocates. We are always so grateful to folks for their time to participate!

Topics of interest from the group included:

• How producers can support community food programming
• Who to connect with to build community food partnerships 
• The utility of the B.C. Farmer’s Tax Credit in growing agreements
• How to get more and diverse local food into schools
• How to set up a farm to support community programming as a viable end market

Learn

Land to Table shared a number of different projects, opportunities and the broader systems context that are informing our interest in growing agreements. For example, COVID and climate disruptions have made it abundantly clear the need for more resilient, closer-to-home food value chains (not just global supply chains) that we can rely on when global food supply is disrupted. In addition, several recent L2T projects and conversations point to the need for more reliable wholesale markets for local farmers, and the potential to connect food access agencies with local farmers (for more reliable supply). The potential to formalize these agreements ultimately contributes toward local value chain development (i.e. linking local farms, through local distributors to local buyers like institutions, non-profit organizations, retailers, consumers – who care about how their food is grown and where it comes from – e.g. the “values”). L2T projects that have sparked the ‘growing agreements’ conversation include:

• Market Opportunity Study findings – we heard local farmers need more reliable wholesale markets
• Regional Community Food Hub partnerships and conversations revealed that agencies care about where they are sourcing food from – they want local, and they want their clients to have access to the fresh local food grown in their own community. 
• UBCO Project Overview- an example of an institution and local farm partnership

Examples of Growing Agreements:

Agreements look differently depending on the relationship between an organization (and their funders) and a farmer, and can range from formal contracts, or written Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to verbal agreements that include shared expectations (e.g. around food type, quantity and logistics), or case by case partnerships (e.g. specified local supply over a short period). Examples, ranging in agreement “formality” include: 

• Turning Points partnership with Shuswap Organics 
• School District 22 is sourcing eggs biweekly from Keenan Family Farms for breakfast programming
• Good Food Box is sourcing from multiple local farmers every month to fill their local boxes- we are in the process of formalizing these agreements so farmers can grow more GFB specific crops this season
• Formal MoU: A farm partners with a food hub for “programming” 
• Formal MoU for growing, where payment is for storage, land use, and materials (rather than specifically for food, as a way to overcome funding restrictions)

Participate

After sharing various examples of growing agreements, the group shared their input on important considerations for our region to pursue more local food supply partnerships.

Keys to Partnership Success

While enthusiasm is a great start, the group agreed it is not enough to sustain lasting partnerships. Session participants helped to outline key considerations when entering into a growing partnership. The below considerations are all imperative to building trust when developing strong, relationship-based local food systems.

1. Values Alignment- Identify the shared values between the farmer and the organizations. This can be anything from supporting the local economy, sustainable growing practices, to fair treatment of farm workers, etc.
2. Reciprocity- the agreement is mutually beneficial to both parties. This is reflected in the prices agreed upon, distribution/transportation logistics working well, and meeting shared expectations.. 
3. Consistency- Depending on an organization’s frequency of food distribution and the farmers’ or orgs’ storage, consistency helps both entities manage inventory and space. 
4. Flexibility- Neither farmers nor food agencies have perfectly predictable operations. Agreements need to account for the chaos of our climate, the unreliability of NGO funding, and limited staff and volunteer capacity. Managing reasonable expectations between partners will help both groups respond, react, and problem solve together when faced with challenges. 
5. Culturally Appropriate & Demographic Specific Food- food agencies serve specific demographics. Orgs need to communicate with producers about the kinds of food their clients will or will not eat and enjoy. Narrowing agreements to a specific list of crops will help farmers plan to grow/raise appropriate food for an organization and better connect their food with their community. Also consider end use of food, e.g. if it will be made into meals, can the organization access less costly fruit/vegetable “seconds” or imperfect product in bulk? 

Other Important considerations from the group’s discussion for future partnership development included:

• It’s important to be able to pay the farmer weekly/per delivery (e.g. as an e-transfer) – so that farmers aren’t waiting for cash (does your organization’s system allow for this?)
• All agreements should be based on trusting relationship (when time to create this before hand)- but having your agreement written down is key to assuring both parties are on the same page 
• If farmers aggregate their products, it will be easier for community agencies to buy from a one stop shop. Purchasing from multiple small scale farmers means more invoicing, more admin time, more delivery fees, and more bookkeeping.
• The local food system needs more centralized storage space to allow for aggregation and wholesale/bulk purchasing to keep purchasing prices down while paying farmers sustainable rates. 

Pricing

• By growing the local food economy, we can reduce pressure on social services (e.g. by creating stable jobs for people in the community who work in the local food sector) 
• Buyers need to value local food for all it represents and supports, and be willing to pay for what it takes to grow that food in an ethical way (which many local farmers do). 
• From the food agencies: purchasing goals need to ensure that lowest price is not the only priority. Local purchasing represents an opportunity to achieve greater social impact. This language should be communicated to funders (e.g. meeting social impact goals requires resources to do so). 
• From the producer: Local farmers need to have competitive rates to maintain their operations and meet demand across many different market channels. 

B.C. Farmers food donation personal income tax credit

“The farmers’ food donation tax credit is a non-refundable income tax credit to encourage farmers and farming corporations to donate certain agricultural products that they produce in B.C. to registered charities, such as food banks or school meal programs.”

There is potential for growing agreements to include donation opportunities, incentivized by the farmers food donation tax credit. While some farmers shared that  “the tax credit is simple and great!,” others chimed in that the barrier to using the credit was needing an efficient invoicing system or template. 

NEXT STEPS

If you are would like Land to Table’s support to connect to potential partners, to develop and/or clarify purchasing goals, to facilitate partnership building (e.g. find farmers), create values alignment, or to share your growing agreement success stories to the network, reach out to Sammy at hello@landtotablenetwork.com 

Land to Table is looking to secure funding to build resources and educational offerings to support our regions’ use of the B.C. farmers food donation personal tax credit. Stay tuned but also let us know if you are looking for resources. 

Save the Date for our in-person Food Security Session: Mar 6, 2024

The Land to Table Regional Community Food Hub is excited to continue to collaborate on food security initiatives in our community. Please mark your calendars for our in-person Community Food Security Sessions where we hope folks can provide updates of their needs, resources, and successes, and we can focus on specific food security projects and opportunities available to our network, and to undertake together in 2024. Location: North Okanagan TBD