For Technical Assistance contact Luke Woodward, Project Manager, Northwest Agriculture Business Center
Overview
King County business and community institutions, both public and privately run, are beginning to explore their role in the regional food system as well as respond to custom requests for healthy, fresh, and local food. The LIFT team is interested in working with a variety of organizations within B and C to further local food purchasing efforts, some of the areas we are interested in exploring include but are not limited to:
- Corrections
- Local Government Operations
- Convention Centers
- Churches and Faith Based Centers
- Retirement Campuses
- Corporate Campuses (Amazon, Apple, Gates Foundation, Google, etc.)
- Concert Halls/Theaters/Entertainment Venues (SAM, MoPOP, Seattle Center, Seattle Aquarium, etc.)
- Sports Facilities (T-Mobile Park, Husky Stadium, etc.)
There are a variety of resources for B and C institutions that fall in these categories, and in many instances, resources from health care and education can be modified to meet specific industry or business needs.
This page is under development as we add new B and C specific resources.
Resources
General Support for Buying Local Products at Wholesale Volumes
Utilizing the NABC Network and the Puget Sound Food Hub, NABC connects farm products to institutions in the following ways:
- Provides facilitation services that open new institutional marketing opportunities for local food producers.
- Visits institutional facilities to conduct assessments to identify the most appropriate models for local food procurement given barriers such as kitchen infrastructure, staff capabilities, budgets and more.
- Overcomes barriers by identifying “gateway solutions” (products or promotions), and communicate the opportunities to our NABC Network farmers. In this way, we’re matchmakers nurturing sales relationships between farmers and buyers.
- Aids in purchasing negotiations and logistics and participate in on-going communications with buyers and farmers.