Expanding Access to Fresh, Local Food for All

At The Food Group, we believe that everyone deserves access to healthy and familiar foods. We also believe in the power of sourcing local and supporting emerging farmers and producers. 

One of the ways we work to expand access for Minnesotans is through our Local Food for Every Table program. We also partner with The Good Acre through their Local Emergency Assistance Farmer Fund (LEAF) program, and as part of our merging with Hunger Solutions last spring, we now also have the Market Bucks program.

Between these three programs, The Food Group is able to bring super fresh and nutrient-dense foods to our neighbors — and support emerging farmers and producers while we’re at it. 

Local Food for Every Table (LFET)

The Local Food for Every Table (LFET) program began when our organization saw a need to bridge the gap between food shelf and affordable grocery participants and food producers to expand access to affordable, high-quality foods.

“The need for affordable nutrient-dense food was increasing, and we wanted to connect these two groups,” said Snow Aukema, our sourcing manager. 

LFET utilizes grant funding and gifts from donors and combines them with The Food Group’s institutional buying power to source locally grown produce and other items from farmers and producers located right here in the Midwest. Those foods are then used to support our anti-hunger food shelf partners and our affordable grocery programs, Fare For All, and Twin Cities Mobile Market. 

Here are two examples of how this looks in practice: 

1. Farmers involved with our Big River Farms program have the opportunity to sell their produce to LFET. “For them, it’s very impactful,” Aukema said. “These are new businesses, and the partnership helps them make sales in their first year.”

2. Fare For All, one of our affordable grocery programs, regularly includes locally grown and produced products in its monthly meat and produce packs. In September, they’ll also be featuring a special meat pack containing only locally produced items. 

The overall purpose of a program like LFET is to stimulate the local economy, support small growers and producers, and provide more equitable access to locally grown and fresh products for families who haven’t historically had the same access to these kinds of foods. Nutritious and local foods should not be a privilege and we want to make sure everyone has access.

Local Emergency Assistance Farmer Fund (LEAFF)

The Local Emergency Assistance Farmer Fund (LEAFF) program was launched by The Good Acre during the COVID-19 pandemic to help support small-scale BIPOC farmers. Many of them had been selling at farmers markets, to school and corporate cafeterias, to universities, to restaurants, and even at events such as the Minnesota State Fair. They were left with food ready to harvest but nowhere to sell it. 

LEAFF raised funds and purchased these foods at fair market value — items that were then donated to hunger relief organizations striving to offer more fresh produce to communities in need. The Food Group distributes produce from the LEAFF program to our food shelf partners. 

Market Bucks

The Market Bucks program, one of the new program areas we added when joining forces with Hunger Solutions this spring, is another way we’re expanding access to fresh, healthy, local foods. This program triples SNAP and EBT benefits at participating farmers markets, allowing customers to stretch their dollars and purchase nutritious foods in greater amounts. During the last calendar year, customers spent $556,588 in SNAP dollars, $329,613 in Market Bucks, and $310,906 in Produce Market Bucks. That’s a total of $1.1 million spent at farmers markets and mobile markets! And most of these vendors were small, local farmers, so those dollars stayed within the local economy. 

The Impact

Programs like LFET, LEAFF, and Market Bucks have impacted the work we do at The Food Group by giving our anti-hunger and affordable grocery partners more variety, more local produce, and more culturally connected products. 

“Culturally connected produce and locally grown produce in food shelves is a way to support a dignified experience,” Aukema told us. “Items like bittermelon, hot peppers, and different greens are unique to certain cultures, and it can be challenging to get them, as well as other locally produced foods, on many clients’ budgets.”

Through LFET, LEAFF, and Market bucks, these products are brought to Minnesotans who want and need them most, which also gives community program participants a greater sense of belonging to the communities they live in. 

“Access to nutrient-dense and culturally connected produce elevates the experience of the neighbors shopping at a Fare For All sale or at one of our local food shelves. It adds so much.”

Aukema sees this year as a crucial one for looking ahead and planning for the future of programs like LFET and LEAFF. Partnerships with farms like Route 1 and Kilimo, as well as with our many food shelf partners, who are willing to take foods that aren’t necessarily easily packaged and handled, have helped make these programs successful. 

Support the Work

Financial contributions help keep these programs alive and expanding. Consider becoming a sustaining donor with The Food Group. You can also help by supporting local farmers, whether that’s by purchasing local produce at the next farmers market, committing to eating seasonally or buying a CSA.