Chirandu Farm: 25 lbs carrots
Keep Step Farm: 10 lbs carrots
Sandy Spring Gardens: 65 lbs carrots
CFS aggregates 100lbs carrots
FAP wholesale order: 80 lbs carrots
CFS Food is Medicine: produce bags for home delivery: 20 lbs carrots
Example of Community FarmShare’ s aggregation services. The majority of its farm partners farm on acreage ranging from one-quarter acre to 10 acres( a fraction of the average national farm size of about 470 acres).
and community members each season to listen, learn, and shape together,” CFS Executive Director Jennifer Freeman said. This grassroots organization has now matured to become a pillar in the local food system, ready to help bring the Local Food Procurement Challenge to fruition.
n Challenge Goal # 1 Support local farmers and strengthen the region’ s economy
“ Three years ago, we realized that to keep up with the fresh produce demand we were creating through our Mobile Farm Markets and partner relationships, and to best serve communities with the produce varieties they most desired, it was critical to shift into an aggregation food hub model, aggregating together small amounts from many small farms to create the supply we need,” Freeman said.“ Our venture worked: not only were we able to source much more produce and buy from more farmers, but aggregating also enabled us to create
new sales channels as we reached out to more partners, particularly in the school and healthcare spaces, our two passion points. Our niche is that we support small farms in navigating the challenges they face when selling to an aggregator( production volume, accurate availability estimates, packaging and product consistency requirements), meeting each farm‘ where they are’ to fold their smaller volumes into our operations.”
Given that small-scale farmers face a completely different set of challenges and needs compared to large-scale farms that sell by the pallet and truckload to large institutions,“ right-size” aggregation plays a much needed role in the local food system. Thanks to“ right-size” aggregation, CFS invested about $ 500,000 in 19 local farms last year. Each year, farm partners share how much CFS’ s work matters to their business. Marc Grossman, co-owner of The Farm at Our House in Brookeville, said,“ Because CFS has offered us a steady outlet, we have been able to invest over
$ 100,000 in new equipment over the past two years that have made our farm vastly more efficient to the point that we are preparing to sell our produce directly to restaurants, in addition to farmers markets, through our CSA, and to CFS.” Going back to the food system web metaphor, that quote represents a new silk thread— strengthening and connecting.
n Challenge Goal # 2 Keep agricultural land in production and reduce farmland loss
Farmers will keep land in production if they know they have a reliable sales channel. Fortunately, most small farms sell through diversified channels, including CSAs, farmers’ markets, farm stands, and restaurants. Adding sales to CFS offers a direct opportunity for increased production. Last year, CFS partnered with 18 schools, 7 clinics, and many food assistance providers, and purchased 217,000 pounds of produce from 19 Montgom-
10 plenty I summer growing 2026