Farm fresh. It’s a mouth-watering phrase that conjures up visions of luscious fruits dripping with juice and crisp veggies waiting to be tossed in a salad. Not only is farm fresh food tastier, but it’s also much more nutritious. And this divinely delicious produce is coming to a food pantry near you thanks to a new program, “Bulk Buy” started by Episcopal Charities and seeded with a grant from the Westchester Community Foundation. 

Huerta Farm delivers fresh produce to Fred’s Pantry. Photo by Aida Torpey.

Photo By; Left: Sweet Freedom Farm , Right: Grandpa Farm

The Farms

Located in Cold Springs, New York in the heart of the Hudson Valley,  Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming  is a nonprofit that trains farmers and promotes local food. Its mission “is to ensure the Hudson Valley is a region defined by food, where farming thrives.” And to this end Glynwood promotes regenerative agriculture that is good for the economy and human health. The farm is also an advocate of food sovereignty and recently founded the Food Sovereignty Fund.

“Glynwood has a large network of farmers in the area and they found farms for us to work with that are run by under-represented farmers – BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and/or, women  — they tend to have less resources as these farms are not generational, so contacts and supplies are not passed down,” says Bergquist.

Megan Larmer, senior director of regional food programs at Glynwood, explains that its Food Sovereignty Fund was created in March 2020. The goal is to empower farmers to be part of community-led food access projects. Small farmers, as it turns out, are eager to build food security in their community as well as the skills necessary to supply pantries, meal programs, mutual aid networks and other programs. An Accountability Council comprised of six experts in food access and agriculture from under-represented farmer communities helped to form, design and implement the project, formally launching the Food Sovereignty Fund in 2021.

Similar to the CSA model, in this project, local farmers are paid in advance to grow culturally appropriate food that is made available to people who may otherwise not have access to that food. Participating farmers are supported with assistance on how to navigate the farm-to- pantry model and this year there are 17 farms involved in the program.  Ultimately, the goal is to  advance food sovereignty in the Hudson Valley, allowing the community more say in what they want to eat, how it is grown and how it is distributed while diminishing food instability at the same time.

“At the end of 2020 we sent out a short form to  farmers to their gauge interest in participating in the Food Sovereignty Fund. The criteria for selection was that the farms had to have gross sales of $500,000 or less annually and they must practice ecological farm management,” says Larmer, who notes that Glynwood connected the farmers to food access programs, including Fred’s Pantry x CHHOP, which was matched with Huerta Family Farm, Grandpa Farm  and Sweet Freedom Farm.

Another farm, Hemlock Hill Farm in Cortlandt Manor, New York, which specializes in growing livestock and processing in their USDA facility was also partnered with Fred’s Pantry. “We believe that food is a right, not a privilege,” says Trish Vasta, general manager, of the farm owned by her cousin, Laura DeMaria. “We have a large immigrant population that shops at our farm store and my cousin has listened to what they say they want. We cater to those communities. We jumped at the opportunity to be part of the program because we want those who do not have funds to purchase our products to have what they need.”

Hemlock Hill Farm benefits as well. Vasta notes that most of the farm’s business is word-of-mouth, so their involvement in this project helps to get their name in front of people and drives customers to the farm, which has a store. It also helps the farm to have a better-balanced inventory. “The farmer is paid and the food goes out to a community that appreciates it and benefits from having the food,” comments Vasta. 

Hemlock Hill Farm delivers 300 pounds of fresh, organic beef to Fred's Pantry.  Photo by Aida Torpey

Cynthia B. Knox, Esq., CHHOP CEO, notes that its Fred’s Pantry jumped at the chance to be part of the program. “We are thrilled to be part of this program because it helps us plan for meeting the community’s need for nutritious food while supporting local sustainable farming. The bulk farm buying program addresses social justice, food access and economic issues and Improves the well-being of the entire community.”

 

Once the farms were on board with the Bulk Buy program, they had to be paired with food pantries. Episcopal Charities needed pantry partners in the program who could help move it forward. Fred’s Pantry was chosen as a partner due to its commitment to provide high-quality, fresh food to clients. Also, as an established food pantry, Episcopal Charities had confidence that Fred’s Pantry has the capacity to manage a new pilot program and as well as the drive to be innovative in food sourcing to address the specific needs of the community it is serving.

Culturally Relevant

Providing food to communities that is culturally relevant is essential. The food needs to be something that pantry clients understand and know how to eat. For example, most of Fred’s Pantry clients are Latinx, so giving them spaghetti and meatballs would be irrelevant and most likely wasted because it goes uneaten. It’s a dish they may not understand or want to eat. “We kept hearing the same refrain from all of our program leaders: We need culturally relevant food. Now we can pair farmers with pantries and they can plan what to grow so that people will eat it,” comments Bergquist, who challenges people to try to eat locally, support farmers markets and know the farmers who grow your food.

“At Episcopal Charities we like to solve multiple problems with one solution,” concludes Bergquist. “With this one program we help boost the local economy, we help struggling farmers and people facing food insecurity, while at the same time lowering the carbon footprint.”