Farm to Institution

Farm to institution encourages institutions to serve more local food to improve public health and strengthen the local food economy. Approximately 25 percent of Maine people rely on state-funded institutions, including healthcare facilities, colleges, universities, schools, and correctional facilities for some, or all of their meals. Ensuring that institutions purchase Maine foods is important to ensuring that Maine people, regardless of their background or income level, are able to enjoy locally grown food.

Institutions can use their purchasing power to support the local community through purchasing local food as those dollars stay in the local economy and directly support food producers. Consumers and other businesses can look to institutions for inspiration on how to purchase and serve more local food throughout the year.

Selling to institutions can be a great market for local farms as many institutions consistently purchase large amounts of food year-round.

There are many examples within Maine’s food supply chain that demonstrate effective farm-to-institution systems. Farms are growing specific types and quantities of produce specifically to meet institutional needs, processors are lightly processing vegetables so they are easy for cafeterias to use year-round, distributors are ensuring that more local food are being delivered to colleges and universities, and institutions are preparing delicious meals with local produce, meat, eggs, dairy, flour, and other Maine grown and produced ingredients.

To learn more about Maine’s Local Foods Procurement Program, and how to achieve farm-to-institution goals, reach out to Brittany Peats, Maine DACF Institutional Market Development Coordinator at brittany.peats@maine.gov.


Local Foods Procurement Program Spotlight

The Mountain View Correctional Facility, in Charleston provides an example of Farm to Institution success. To learn more about Mountain View Correctional Facility’s Farm-to-Institution Program: Serving Time and Good Food at Mountain View Correctional Facility - Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners (mofga.org)


Resources for Institutions

There are many resources for institutions that are interested in purchasing Maine food. Institutions can source more local food by working with a distributor that sells Maine food, buying directly from a local farmer, fisherman, or food producer, or growing produce in an on-site garden.

Connect with Local Food Producers +

  • The Real Maine Wholesale database includes Maine farms and food producers that sell to wholesale markets, including institutions. It is possible to search by type of food and location.
  • The Department of Education has a map of farms that have sold to K – 12 schools in the past.
  • MOFGA’s database includes location and items.

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Work with a Distributor to Purchase Local Food +

Farm to Institution New England has created this toolkit to assist institution working with distributors: A Toolkit For Institutional Purchasers: Sourcing Local Food From Distributors

These distributors buy from local producers and sell to institutions:

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Connect with Other Institutions +

Several nonprofits support institutions that are interested in sourcing more local food by providing relevant research and resources and by organizing networks of people working on similar issues.

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Resources for Producers & Food Processors

Institutions can be a great market for producers and food processors and there is support and funding available to help them. Producers may need support analyzing their business plan, adding infrastructure to scale up, securing additional certification, learning to market their farm to new customers, and developing new relationships.

Technical Assistance +

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Funding Opportunities +

State

Federal

Private

  • The Henry P. Kendall Foundation’s New England Food Vision Prize Program aims to increase the amount of local and regional food prepared and served on New England college and university campuses and within K-12 public school districts, helping to strengthen the region’s food system. The Prize program, offered annually, awards grants up to $200,000 to winning teams. 

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Resources for Schools


Success Stories

There are many examples within Maine’s food supply chain that demonstrate effective farm-to-institution systems. Farms are growing specific types and quantities of produce specifically to meet institutional needs, processors are lightly processing vegetables so they are easy for cafeterias to use year-round, distributors are ensuring that more local food are being delivered to colleges and universities, and institutions are preparing delicious meals with local produce, meat, eggs, dairy, flour, and other Maine grown and produced ingredients.

Learn more about local food procurement: