By Kelly Key

I love a happy farmer. You know what makes a farmer happy (besides local baked goods)? Seeing the food they grew or raised with their own two hands go out into their community and be eaten. As someone who has done it, I can tell you that growing food for a living is hard work.Once food is grown, there are multiple ways that farmers can get that food out to the community—farmers markets, CSAs, farm stands, etc. At LEAP, one of the ways we work with farmers is buying wholesale through our Food Hub. Through the LEAP Food Hub, we buy wholesale from farmers directly and then market, pack, and distribute food through various programs, including our Farm Share, Mobile Market, processing kitchen, and Community Store.

‍

Over the years, I’ve had the honor of helping provide support to our local farmers (and food eaters) as they’ve grown and changed. When I think about the amount of change that has happened at LEAP in response to farmer and community needs since I was hired 8 years ago, I have to chuckle to myself. Back then, our “food hub” (before we even admitted to ourselves that it was a food hub), was a 10’x8’ walk-in cooler in the back of the Goodwill building, which is now the Melrose Library. Three of us worked part-time at our little food hub in order to operate the Farm Share and Mobile Market programs. Shortly after we moved to Heritage Point, a Roanoke Co+op property out in the Blue Hills industrial park. There was one 10’x10’ walk-in cooler there already. We quickly added a second 10’x10’ cooler and a cold storage room. 

‍

My memories of this place include packing food in masks during the pandemic to distribute local produce for emergency feeding, hiring a food hub team (a second Mobile Market operator, a farm share coordinator, and a food hub operator), taking breaks in the walk-in cooler to cool off during the summers, as well as sliding my mittens off to work at my computer to place food orders in the winter (the food hub was a literal barn so heat and air conditioning were essentially non-existent). We shimmied between boxes of food stacked to the ceiling in the coolers and scheduled food deliveries to arrive after we removed food for a day on the Mobile Market or a Farm Share pick up. 

‍

Now in our permanent home, LEAP’s Food Hub has grown to meet our community’s needs, with a 20’x20’x14’ walk-in, a processing kitchen, a storefront, and even air conditioning! It’s been a whirlwind. Through all of it, what didn’t change was our desire to provide a variety of options for farmers to sell their food, our desire for those farmers to thrive, and our role of listening to our community to adapt to their needs. 

‍

I was hired to start the LEAP Farm Share, an aggregated CSA previously run by Good Food Good People. The LEAP Mobile Market was already in operation at that time and with the addition of the Farm Share, we were able to significantly increase our purchasing power. The two programs paired well—whether a farmer had five pounds of summer squash, or 100 heads of lettuce, I could say “yes, I can pay you for that!” We were able to meet a wider variety of farmers’ needs by offering them both a viable wholesale outlet in addition to selling directly to consumers at our farmers markets. Having options and flexibility when it comes to selling their food can be a critical part of whether a farmer is successful or not. If they have a huge harvest that they can’t sell directly, having a wholesale outlet can save farmers from potential waste and lost income. 

‍

Before working at LEAP I had spent two years on a farm in northern California where I learned about the amount of work that goes into growing food, raising animals, processing chickens, and packing and distributing food that we sold through a CSA and at three weekly markets. I knew the feeling of triumph of selling out at market and joy of talking face to face with the people about to eat the food I had grown, and I know the sadness of having to repack heavy totes of vegetables and coolers still full of frozen chicken onto a truck after a long day at market. Farmers markets are often the best way for small farmers to create a name for themselves, get top dollar for their product, and build relationships. It can also be difficult with the limited number of hours a market is open for people to get to you, the weather can greatly impact your sales, and when you are at market for a day, that’s a day you aren’t on the farm growing food. Offering farmers a way to make a sale before anything is even harvested, giving them a quick and easy transaction so they have more time to focus on growing food, is often an amazing option for farmers, especially as they grow their businesses. 

‍

Amy from Patchwork Family Farm shares, “Our model of small-scale production and high crop diversity requires a focus on efficiency when it comes to sales. It can also make it difficult to have a presence in several sales outlets at once. That’s where LEAP programs like Farm Share and the Mobile Market support our farm so well. Our intensive system of production requires that we sell every leaf and root that our farm produces to maximize income from each square foot or growing space. The purchasing power of LEAP programs supports this need directly and effectively allowing us to focus on growing high quality vegetables for our community. Our relationship with LEAP dates back to the very first year we grew and sold produce and we are grateful to have worked alongside them ever since.”

‍

Over the years I’ve witnessed Patchwork Family Farm sell at our farmers market while running their own CSA, transitioning to selling mostly through their CSA and farmstand, and then deciding to pivot to mostly wholesale through LEAP. I’ve watched in awe as Garden Variety Harvests started out farming backyards and selling at Grandin Village Farmers Market, to now having a permanent home where they grow food to sell at both LEAP farmers markets and wholesale to LEAP, in addition to other wholesale and direct to consumer outlets. I’ve witnessed the creation of the Blue Ridge Farmer Collective, as like-minded farmers banded together to make selling wholesale easier, using LEAP’s infrastructure to launch their operation. 

‍

The LEAP food hub has had a profound impact on local farmers’ small businesses, helping them to grow and thrive.  Through the food hub, our ability to buy more food and distribute it among the Mobile Market, Farm Share, and Community Store means we are able to quickly adapt to farmers’ needs. This model enables us to pay farmers a fair price for their food in ways that work for them. As our community grows, so does our level of impact. The more people in the community that choose to become a Farm Share member, shop at the LEAP Community Store or Mobile Market, the more food we can buy from farmers and the more farmers we can work with. This is how we continue to grow a vibrant, thriving local food system that supports local farmers staying in business for the long run! 

‍

If you’re looking for more ways to support your local farmers, or if getting to the farmers market is not an accessible option for you and your life, consider buying local at one of these LEAP programs. You’ll put a smile on your farmer’s face and mine.