The latino farmers associations project aims to foster equitable participation in the organic marketplace for historically underserved and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, veterans and…

The Latino Farmers Association (LFA) was awarded a $3,651,384.25 Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service. The 3-year project aims to foster equitable participation in the organic marketplace for historically underserved and socially disadvantaged farmers, veterans, and beginning farmers. Key objectives include: 1) Transitioning the Van Ness Farmers Market in Washington, D.C. to an exclusively organic market and obtaining organic certifications for its vendors; 2) Opening and operating three new organic markets in underserved areas of D.C. and one in Cleveland, Virginia; 3) Developing a scalable CSA producer-to-consumer system with a virtual marketplace; and 4) Establishing a hub-and-spoke transportation and distribution system to efficiently collect and deliver organic produce from small regional farms. The project will also provide business development and technical support to participating organic producers.

The latino farmers associations project aims to foster equitable participation in the organic marketplace for historically underserved and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, veterans and beginning farmers, with a concerted effort to combat food deserts in the district of columbia, maryland and virginia. To do so, LFA will pursue four key objectives. Firstly, LFA will expand the organic vendor capacity of the van ness farmers market in the district of columbia by facilitating a transition to an exclusively organic market and obtaining organic certifications for its vendors via partnerships with topp PCO and OTA. Secondly, LFA will open and operate three organic markets in the districts healthy food priority areas in wards 7, 8 and 5 and an organic market in the underserved community of cleveland, virginia. In addition to benefiting historically underserved producers and facilitating market development for domestic organic produce, this project will address food disparity and provide access to healthy nutrition to historically underserved and socially disadvantaged communities in the district of columbia and economically disadvantaged communities in russell county, VA.thirdly, the association will develop a scalable CSA producer-to-consumer system supported by a virtual marketplace, which will connect market vendors with individual and institutional consumers. To enhance visibility and recognition, a cohesive brand for all participating organic and transitioning vendors will be developed and promoted. To broaden accessibility, local delivery services, provided by near, a local company, will be integrated into the marketplace, allowing LFA to reach a wider range of consumers. Integral to this strategy is building strong relationships with institutional buyers, organic distributors, smaller grocery stores, and food CO-OPS. Leveraging the strengths of existing stakeholders, LFA will forge strategic partnerships with local food hubs, markets, and other key players in the industry.finally, LFA will advance sustainable distribution of organic produce through the development of a hub and spoke transport and distribution system supported by the purchase of delivery vehicles. This initiative will empower LFA to efficiently collect organic produce from numerous small farms within the region, alleviating the need for economically challenged producers to make individual trips to sell their products. This initiative will also open doors for farmers without transportation access to enter the organic markets. The inclusion of delivery vehicles will help optimize distribution, enabling LFA to seamlessly deliver products from small farmers to local institutions, food hubs, and grocery stores.lfas model is based on active participation of project beneficiaries through various stages of project implementation. LFA will recruit, upskill and employ a roster of assistant market managers, logistics coordinators, and outreach coordinators from our constituent producer community. Lfas key partner, the conceptium group, specializing in comprehensive field-based services will provide market operation, business development, and technical support. An experienced team of industrial psychologists, action potential, with extensive experience in designing and executing data collection studies will provide program evaluation and data analysis. LFA S collaborators, appalachia agricultural foundation and weroance heart, will facilitate the necessary workspace for the project, including office and conference rooms, a marketplace, and a warehouse. Working closely with the project S intended beneficiaries and key stakeholders in the organic industry, LFA is well-positioned to achieve success in fostering equitable participation for historically underserved farmers and disadvantaged communities in the organic marketplace.