Connecting Farm Fresh Food To Local Institutions

Connecting Farm Fresh Food To Local Institutions

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Slow Money Northwest is partnering with several local organizations on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant in an effort to connect Washington grown food with local institutions. Slow Money NW’s Japhet Koteen explains.

KOTEEN: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - their focus is health. And for the last decade or so they have been looking at the problem of childhood obesity and the relationship between obesity and nutrition. Recently they’ve sort of stepped back and realized that the problem is also related to the food supply and so they’re looking at a project in this region to start bringing more fresh fruits and vegetables into institutional settings where there are a lot of children - schools, hospitals, and daycare facilities.

Koteen says that means they are going to put their money where their mouth is so to speak.

KOTEEN: They’re going to invest in businesses that can help improve the quality and quantity of fresh foods available in these institutions.

Koteen explains Slow Money NW’s part in the program.

KOTEEN: We’re working on developing a strategy for them of a set of investments that they can make that will have an impact in this realm. For example, there are a lot of producers who can’t sell into the school system because they can’t meet the volumes or the price points, but if we can aggregate this through some sort of food hub mechanism and buy from a lot of the producers and meet the price points and the quality requirements of the school system then we can make a difference.

Tomorrow Koteen will talk about some of the partners on the grant and the three components that make up the project.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.