Local farms are a vital part of how we are able to make fresh produce available to our neighbors. Since the establishment of the Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) in Maryland last year, we’ve been able to significantly ramp up how much we purchase from local growers! Here’s how the year finished up:
This season, roughly 2.9 million meals came from local growers. That includes 200,000 meals’ worth of milk and eggs — which we hadn’t been able to offer as frequently.
We worked with 11 new growers and producers in Maryland, five of which are co-ops who work with 5 or more individual growers.
We are now purchasing food from a total of 16 local farms. Of these farms, six are woman- or minority-owned.
Some of the produce we received most of? Watermelon, summer squash, apples, and sweet potatoes!
We are so grateful for our partnerships with local farms — and we are excited to continue growing these partnerships in the new year!