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Final Report: Farm to College: Reducing Food Miles through Direct Purchasing

EPA Grant Number: SU831863
Title: Farm to College: Reducing Food Miles through Direct Purchasing
Investigators: Karp, Caroline , Ayars, Ken , Brown, Katherine , Doerner, Judy , Dunleavy, Virginia , Hazeltine, Barrett , Jacoby, Karl , Page, Talbot , Schmitt, Annie , Ward, Harold
Institution: Brown University
EPA Project Officer: Nolt-Helms, Cynthia
Project Period: September 15, 2004 through September 14, 2005
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity, and the Planet (2004)
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development

Description:

Objective:

The goal of our Farm Fresh project is to connect Brown University to regional agriculture through facilitating direct food purchases. We have developed educational components and as well as technical resources which increase the ease and efficiency of local purchasing (www.locallygrownfood.com exit EPA). By supporting a more-localized food economy, we reduced emissions from food transport, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, increase viability of local agriculture, increase crop diversity and improved the public's understanding of where food comes from. By connecting urban consumers with rural surroundings, we strengthen community connectedness as well as awareness of our environmental impact.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

Our first season (Fall 2004) was highly successful. The number of farmers who sold products to Brown University or participated in our newly developed Farmers' Market increased from four to fourteen. Awareness of the Farm Fresh program spread across campus through both Farm Tours and Harvest Crews, during which students, staff and faculty visited local farms. Awareness also spread across the State through presentations, educational campaigns and media highlights. Our biggest triumph was finding funding for the salary for one of our graduating team members who has now become the Local Food Ambassador to Brown University.

We drew the following conclusions about developing a more localized food economy:

  1. We must simultaneously develop all parts of a local food economy. A program to buy locally grown foods will not succeed at a Brown University alone. Local restaurants, schools, wholesalers and, most importantly, local farmers must be involved.
  2. Price and transportation impediments to local purchasing can be solved with creative solutions, including a farmers' market, volunteer student labor and buying cooperatives amongst neighboring food service providers.
  3. All staff at a food service institution must be on-board with a buy local program. Their awareness guarantees that local and non-local items remain distinct as they move from the loading dock to the dinner plate.
  4. Enthusiasm for locally grown must be matched with increased availability. Students were not always clear on how to support the Farm Fresh project. Brown Dining Services must buy a critical mass of food items in order for the program to be worthwhile.

Conclusions:

Urban consumers are curious and enthusiastic to connect with the origins of their food. Many find cultural fulfillment in this reconnection. The success of Farmers' Markets, not only in R.I. but across the U.S. demonstrates this fact. Our Farm Fresh project was successful because it taps into this enthusiasm. Most importantly, our project incorporates a diversity of stakeholders.

Finding ways to increase communication between buyers and small, local farms is a critical step towards a sustainable food system. We created a website and online purchasing software to enable this direct communication. Farmers do not have to sit by a phone. Businesses have access to an updated inventory of local product. This website has linked a multitude of parties in field such as community healthy, economic development, environmental sustainability and art and culture. The website has allowed buyers and consumers to meet-both virtually and actually. It has brought urban neighbors into contact with rural neighbors.

To realize the full benefits of the website and the budding program for local purchasing at Brown University, the website must be further developed and promoted to appeal to target populations.

Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:

Phase II will have three objectives

  1. Expand upon the potential of www.locallygrownfood.com exit EPA by reaching out to groups in the Rhode Island region who will benefit from and utilize this information (farmers, wholesalers, hospitals, group homes, restaurateurs, non- English speakers, children).
  2. Form a network between Buy Local campaigns in the Northeast corridor (New England plus New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). We will use www.locallygrownfood.com exit EPA as a tool to centralize this network and to direct consumers to the nearest and most feasible food producer.
  3. Create a GIS map of our foodshed. We will map regional production and delivery in effort to design a system which maximizes efficiency and economic benefit while minimizing environmental costs (loss of open space, unnecessary vehicle miles traveled). The map will serve as a tool for directing buyers to the most logical and local producer.

We will achieve these objectives in the following manner:

  1. Expand use and utility of the website by actively appealing to and recruiting stakeholder groups, taking into close consideration equal access to nutritious, fresh foods. We will develop and circulate Buy Local manuals for individuals, farmers and business.
  2. Form a network between regional Buy Local campaigns through promotion, conferences, and presentations and through creating a standardized icon for locally grown food in the Northeast. Our network will prioritize ecological over political boundaries.
  3. Develop a strategic design for the delivery of farm fresh foods using GTS information. Layers of this study will include demographics and economic distributions, farmers' market schedules and distributions, community and school garden distributions, wholesaler and other warehouse locations and others.

Supplemental Keywords:

Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, RFA, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Agricultural Engineering, Economics and Business, environmental sustainability, food transportation, computer models, sustainable development, decision making, environmental education, environmental accounting, agriculture, sustainable agriculture, software tool, direct purchasing, pollution prevention, cost benefit
Relevant Websites:

www.locallygrownfood.com exit EPA

Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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