Alachua County’s Fresh Food Pathways Project: Food Hub Feasibility Study will enter Phase II of its 30-month initiative aimed at supporting area farmers, strengthening local food systems and expanding access to locally grown food.
According to an Alachua County press release sent Monday, Phase II will assess how a community-based food hub can create new market opportunities for farmers, improve coordination across the local food system and increase availability of local products for institutions that purchase food at scale.
Alachua County will work with food system consultants, New Ventures Advisors (NVA), to launch a 10-month pilot project with Frog Song Farms, a Hawthorne-based farm and food distribution company.
The pilot will gather market and operational data to evaluate the long-term feasibility of the food hub, while expanding and supporting Frog Song Farms’ existing distribution and farming operations.
A food hub connects small and mid-sized farms with larger markets by coordinating services such as aggregation, marketing, sales, and distribution.
“This project allows us to expand the reach of our local food network and support more farmers throughout Alachua County,” said John Bitter, owner of Frog Song Farms, in the press release. “By improving aggregation, distribution, and access, we can get more fresh, locally grown food into schools, institutions, and homes across the county.”
The pilot will focus on increasing institutional purchases of locally grown food—including through Alachua County Public Schools, expanding farmer participation in a coordinated aggregation and distribution network and improving food access through direct-to-consumer sales and community distribution partnerships.
“Strengthening connections between local farmers, institutions and residents helps build a more resilient food system,” said Bailey McClellan, the county’s agriculture economic development coordinator, in the press release. “This pilot will provide valuable insight into how a food hub could support farmers while expanding access to fresh, locally grown food.”
Frog Song Farms distributes and aggregates products from multiple farms across Florida and will use the pilot to increase outreach to additional growers in Alachua County and the surrounding region. The project will also increase operational capacity through job training in produce handling and food distribution, supporting workforce development and living-wage jobs in the local food economy.
Click here to learn more and follow along for project updates.
For more information, contact McClellan at 352-275-4297 or bmcclellan@alachuacounty.us.