Nearly 1 in 3 SAN diegans experience nutritional insecurity and the number of local farms has diminished by half since 2000

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded Foodshed Cooperative Inc. a $564,500 Project Grant under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. Foodshed will transition its emergency food distribution operations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to a sustainable model increasing retail sales 25% annually. Funding will support planning with Foodshed's farmer network to achieve aggregation goals and improve distribution capacity at its Central San Diego farm hub. Technical assistance will help small farms develop economically viable sales channels. Outreach workers will educate residents on the value of local produce. Foodshed will advocate for infrastructure and investments ensuring disadvantaged farmers and communities benefit. By completion, Foodshed's hub operations will be self-sustaining, over 30 small farms will have sales channels, and 5,000 residents will have improved produce access.

Foodshed, INC. Is a farmer-owned, cooperatively-run distribution company that works at the intersection of farm viability and food insecurity to create mid-tier value chain solutions and reverse these negative trends. We plan to utilize lfpp funds to transition from the subsidized emergency distribution strategy we employed during the height of the pandemic to an operational model that increases retail sales by 25% per year and ensures the products we distribute remain affordable and accessible. To achieve these outcomes, foodshed staff will engage in conscientious planning with our network of farmers and provide technical assistance to help them achieve ambitious aggregation goals, improve distribution capacity at the foodshed farm hub in central SAN diego, engage community health outreach workers to conduct linguistically and culturally appropriate outreach about the value of locally grown produce in SAN diego's diverse urban core, and advocate among organizational and institutional collaborators for long-term strategies that improve local food distribution infrastructure and ensure mid-tier value chain investments serve socially disadvantaged farmers and communities. At the end of the project, foodshed, INC. Will have sufficient revenue to independently sustain operations at the farm hub, more than 30 small farms will have an economically viable sales channel to distribute their produce, and more than 5,000 residents of central SAN diego will have improved access to fresh, local, fruits and vegetables.