"Tradition... should not impede necessary changes for sustainability." - Elaine Froese, author of Building Your Farm Legacy
The movement towards local food has gained tremendous momentum over the past decade, propelled by growing consumer interest in sustainability, health, and community support. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for unprecedented change across multiple sectors, compelling businesses and communities to adapt swiftly to new challenges. This period of intense transformation was especially significant in local food systems, where traditional practices met urgent, disruptive demands for safety and accessibility. The rapid shift from in-person shopping to online platforms represented not just a temporary adjustment but a fundamental evolution in how we procure and appreciate locally sourced food.
In this article, Tandy Thackeray, who manages Siskiyou Farm Co., shares her insights on how food hubs are at the forefront of this digital transformation. Tandy oversees social media, marketing, and sales at Siskiyou Farm Co., streamlining the distribution and marketing of locally sourced food products and connecting local producers with consumers. She'll explore how food hubs like Siskiyou Farm Co. are leveraging online tools and software for food hubs to make local food systems more accessible, efficient, and sustainable.
Simply put, a food hub is an organization that connects local producers with consumers by managing the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of locally-sourced products. Food hubs act as intermediaries, making it easier for small-to-medium-sized producers to reach larger markets and for consumers to access fresh, local food.
Learn more about food hubs with Tandy from Siskiyou Farm Co.
At Siskiyou Farm Co., we’re leveraging digital tools to transform the conventional local shopping experience into something far more accessible, efficient, and community-oriented. We’re on a mission to make local food more accessible than ever. In 2020, we were awarded a three-year Farmers Market Promotion Program grant that has enabled us to facilitate connections between local producers and consumers and increase access to local products.
This project led to the creation of Siskiyou Farm Co., dedicated to selling, packing, and distributing local food. We have successfully onboarded over 30 producers, offering more than 400 products, and sold over 1,500 boxes of local food. By centralizing functions such as aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and marketing, we play a crucial role in making local food more accessible and bridging the gap between local producers and consumers. These producers might not otherwise have the means to reach such broad markets, and by connecting them with tools and resources, we drive significant change in the local food system.
At Siskiyou Farm Co., partnering with Local Line has been nothing short of a game-changer in making local food more accessible to our community. Local Line not only simplifies the sales process for our producers but also enhances the shopping experience for our customers. Our producers can easily create their own online profiles, manage their products, including photos, descriptions, pricing, and quantities, and not have to worry about order fulfillment and distribution. Through our integrated online marketplace, consumers can easily shop from hundreds of local products with one-click checkout and pick up at our distribution locations. It allows us to extend our reach beyond traditional boundaries, making local foods more accessible and popular.
Here is something to think about that I think is incredibly powerful: Did you know that if every resident in your community committed to spending just $5 a month on local food directly from producers, it could generate $5,200,000 in new farm income for our region annually? THAT IS THE POWER OF A LOCAL FOOD ECONOMY.
Our message at Siskiyou Farm Co. is to rethink the way you eat, shop, and support local. Every time you choose local, no matter how big or small the purchase or how often you make it, you're playing a crucial role in the growth of your local food economy.
As I reflect on the state of agriculture in our area, many traditional ag businesses, integral to our community's backbone, may be approaching a point of “no return.” The struggles for survival are intensified by factors such as extreme drought, increasing demand pressures, and litigation strategies that often pit old practices against new necessities.
We are tackling these challenges head-on through two buckets of work: business development and market development.
We understand just how vital the food and agricultural sectors are to our future prosperity. That's why we are fully committed to using creative strategies and digital transformation to help these sectors innovate and expand market opportunities. With increased revenues, reduced food miles, and improved community health from greater consumption of quality local products, the power of a strong local food system is undeniable.
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