May 31, 2024
Tens of thousands of Vermonters are fed in institutional meal settings every day: in schools, early childcare programs, colleges, hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons. Many institutions prioritize local purchasing when they can, which creates a unique market opportunity for Vermont producers.
Here is a snapshot of a few institutional markets and their commitment to local Vermont food:
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K-12 Schools: Vermont is a nationally recognized leader in the farm-to-school movement. Most K-12 schools in Vermont are engaging in some farm-to-school activities, whether that is gardening, sourcing local food for the cafeteria, or engaging in food and agriculture events in the community. The State of Vermont has created grant programs to make local food more affordable for school meal programs and help schools develop farm to school programs, such as the Vermont Local Foods Incentive Grant, and the VAAFM Farm to School and Early Childhood Capacity Building Grant.
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Early Childhood Programs: More than 100 early childhood providers in Vermont have purchased CSAs from nearby farms to bring local food into their meal and education programs through the VAAFM Farm to School and Early Childhood Community Supported Agriculture Grant.
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Colleges: Colleges across the state prioritize local food purchasing, with larger colleges and universities spending about 9 percent of their dining budgets on local food and some smaller colleges averaging between 30 to 80 percent local food.
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Hospitals: UVM Medical Center is a national leader in healthcare sustainability. In 2022, UVMMC reported that the hospital purchases from more than 70 local producers and about 42 percent of its food dollars are spent within 250 miles.
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Prisons: The Vermont Department of Corrections is working closely with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Farm to Institution New England to build new partnerships and serve more local food at all six State Corrections facilities.
Institutional Market Opportunity
For producers, the greatest strength of the institutional market is the volume and consistency of their orders. Many larger institutions are planning their menus months in advance, and due to their size and daily operation, they can generally commit to buying a larger volume of food than other market channels like retail, restaurants, and direct-to-consumer. Producers also deeply appreciate that institutions will prepare and serve their food to nourish some of the most vulnerable kids, adults, and seniors in their community.
There are also obvious challenges with institutional markets: ever-tightening budgets; under-staffed kitchens; complex regulations and reporting requirements for federal meal programs; and the reduction in meal service for most schools and colleges during the summer months, when Vermont produce is most abundant.
Despite the challenges with institutional markets, over 100 Vermont farms sell to Vermont schools and early childhood programs. Bolstered by an awareness of the institutional market, producers have found creative solutions to access institutional markets and provide their communities with local, nutritious food.
Selling Directly to Institutions
Producers can reach out directly to the chefs and nutrition managers at schools, colleges, prisons, and other institutions in their area to see if they have interest in their products. Vermont FEED has developed guidance and frequently asked questions to help farms get started in directly selling to schools. Healthcare Without Harm has also developed guidance that may be more helpful for farms looking to sell their products directly to other institutions like hospitals, colleges, and prisons. Farms that offer CSAs should consider marketing their CSA shares to early childhood providers and afterschool programs in their communities. CSA farms can also let these prospective customers know that VAAFM CSA grants are available to partially reimburse programs for purchasing CSAs.
Working with Food Hubs and Broadline Distributors
Rather than building new direct relationships with farms, some institutions prefer buying local food through distributors and food hubs that they already work with to simplify and streamline their ordering processes. So, to start selling to institutional markets, some producers might consider reaching out to food hubs and other distributors to see if they can get added as a wholesale supplier.
Connect with Business Planning Support
Farms that are considering expanding into institutional markets might consider reaching out to their service provider for enterprise analysis and to fit selling to institutions into their business plans. Farms can start by contacting the Vermont Farm and Forest Viability Program to get connected with business planning support. If new equipment or processing space is needed to scale up a business to serve an institutional market, farms can work with service providers to explore grant programs.
Learn More About Institutional Markets
Producers that are interested in learning more about how schools and early childhood programs are working to buy more local food can contact Kayla Strom, NOFA-VT’s Farm to School Programs Coordinator, at kayla@nofavt.org. Producers can also Gina Clithero, VAAFM Farm to Institution Program Manager, at gina.clithero@vermont.gov, to learn more about VAAFM Farm to Institution grant programs.
Gina Clithero (she/her) is the Farm to Institution Program Manager at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM). Gina manages grant programs, coordinates technical assistance, and partners within the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network and the Vermont Farm to Plate Network to connect institutions (e.g. schools, early childhood programs, colleges, hospitals, and prisons) with local food and local farms. Learn more about the VAAFM Farm to School, Farm to Early Childhood, and Farm to Institution grant programs at agriculture.vermont.gov/farmtoschool.
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