Procurement with purpose
Connecting California farmers and institutions through nourishing food
Procurement with Purpose is an innovative, statewide initiative transforming institutional food procurement into a powerful force for the resilience and market capacity of local food systems. By equipping small and emergent food hubs across California with market access to schools, hospitals, food pantries, and other public-serving institutions, we are creating a more resilient food system that centers family farms and community health.
“I think generally for this technical assistance support, sometimes what we’ve seen in the past, there’s maybe a mismatch between the needs of specifically a grower and what these organizations are able to provide. Procurement with Purpose felt much more in line… there was a lot more intention to figure out what our needs were, and it was much more hands on, there’s more resources that aligned with our needs than I was expecting from previous technical assistance support.”
Sam Thorp, Co-Owner of Spade & Plow
Our Approach
Small food hubs and family farms face persistent barriers to institutional markets—from compliance and food safety standards to operational and distribution challenges. Without support, these challenges limit both economic opportunity for producers and access to fresh, culturally relevant food for communities. Procurement with Purpose addresses these gaps by unlocking stable markets, circulating food dollars locally, and building long-term food system resilience.
We provide partner food hubs with:
- Operational Assessments to evaluate readiness for specific institutional sales.
- Customized Technical Assistance to address key gaps in operations and capacity.
- Infrastructure Investment to expand aggregation, refrigeration and delivery capacity.
- Institutional Matchmaking to connect directly with procurement officers.
- Hands-on Support to ensure successful relationships with institutional markets.
The Impact
By centering family farms and community wellness, Procurement with Purpose is…
- Positioning food hubs for long-term success
- Increasing community access to locally sourced fruits and vegetables
- Strengthening regional economies by keeping food dollars local
- Building a scalable, replicable model for equitable institutional procurement.
Your support of Fresh Approach’s Procurement with Purpose program helps unlock the potential of California’s small-scale regional food system—equipping family farms and food hubs with skills and knowledge, and transforming how, and why institutions source their food. Together, we can create lasting pathways to economic resilience and community nourishment.
