Farmer Foodshare is a food system "hack" to solve the simultaneous problems of farm waste/excess production, farm product marketing and community malnourishment. Farmer Foodshare (the organization) is a nonprofit in NC that created a set of open source approaches and inexpensive tools (marketing, wholesale distribution models) that link excess (or expanded) farm production with people who are in dire need of fresh healthy, food and community nourishment. The FF approach relies on 1) local food producers, 2) farmers markets or online hubs, 3) distribution systems (labor, transport, online, tracking), 4) marketing/communications and 5) institutions willing to use and/or buy the food to integrate into their hunger/nutrition and health programming for underserved communities. (Editor's note: I have various .doc toolkits for the "source code/instructions" for the Donation Stations, Food Ambassadors and POP Market models, if anyone wants them. Also have data on $ to farmers and the costs of running these programs, particularly as the programs grow customers and farmers. I would like to use this Farm Hack posting to spur others to contribute their food security systems innovations.
