Ripe Time Delivery

Carolina growers form co-op to supply farm-to-school market

By Bill Brockhouse
Cooperative Development Specialist
USDA Rural Development/Cooperative
Programs

Bruce Pleasant
Cooperative Development Specialist
USDA Rural Development/North Carolina


orth Carolina has 2,513 elementary and secondary schools with 1.44 million students. That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed. These schools are increasingly turning to North Carolina produce growers for a wide variety of nutritious, freshest-possible foods, such as watermelon, broccoli and cabbage.

The farm-to-school program in North Carolina originated in 1997 through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Markets and Food Distribution Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS). The first effort involved supplying apples to schools in western North Carolina. The initial success resulted in the program expanding throughout the state, with participation growing every year.

There are more than 2,000 farm-toschool programs operating in 39 states. They bring healthy food from local farms to children’s plates at school. This also helps provide a market for local farmers and reduce the distance food is shipped.

In 2004, 60 school districts in North Carolina used the program. The number increased to 67 school districts in 2008, which made record purchases of $700,000 through the program during the 2008-09 school year, up from $502,000 in 2006-07.

Birth of the cooperative The North Carolina Farm-To-School Cooperative was incorporated in 2008, born out of producers’ desire to supply fresh, healthy produce to the school children of their state. The coop and its mission have been a source of pride for the state’s produce growers ever since.

“The schools’ participation in the program allows the producers to diversify their sales and provides a healthier diet for the children.” says cooperative President James Sharp. “This is also an opportunity to educate children through promotions about the origins of their food.”

In addition to providing fresh produce, the program teaches elementary and secondary school children about North Carolina produce and how it is produced. This educational effort involves posters in school cafeterias, lesson plans and coloring activities for younger children. NCDA&CS tractor-trailers are rolling advertisements that display images of school children enjoying North Carolina strawberries. This year the group will consider using promotional “tent cards” on cafeteria tables and other educational items to help increase students’ understanding of North Carolina agriculture and good nutrition.

Grower/suppliers pay an assessment of 50 cents per case of produce delivered to the schools to help fund promotions and to pay for educational materials.

The cooperative has 30 members who supply 12 commodities. These include eight varieties of apples, seedless watermelon, cabbage, broccoli crowns, sweet potatoes, apple slices, strawberries and blueberries.

“You can’t get any fresher produce than this,” says Tommy Fleetwood, agricultural marketing supervisor with the NCDA. “It is delivered to the schools two days after harvest,” he notes, compared to at least a week for produce shipped in from the West Coast. He says if the schools add a summer feeding program, produce could be supplied year round.

The most recent Farm Bill gives schools the option to purchase produce from local farmers. A month before each commodity offering is in peak season, a memorandum is sent electronically to all the Child Nutrition Directors with an order form. Upon receipt of the solicitation, the schools place their orders electronically, guaranteeing the delivery of the freshest produce available when promised. In the past, they were not able to indicate a geographic preference, due to procurement regulations, explains Marilyn Moody, senior director for Child Nutrition Services for Wake County Public Schools. “This allows us to get fresh produce at the peak of ripeness on the lunch tray,” Moody says.

Food distribution network
Farm-to-school program delivery is made possible with the help of a unique food distribution service through NCDA&CS, which maintains a network of 14 trucks and 30 trailers. It also has facilities for storing and cooling commodities, helping to ensure that produce is the freshest possible when it is served to students.

This fleet of trucks, along with two warehouses with coolers and freezers, is believed to be the only food distribution network in the nation operated by a state department of agriculture. NCDA&CS collects the orders from school nutrition directors. Produce is then picked up at three grower delivery points. From there it is hauled to one of the warehouses, where orders are processed and the produce is then trucked to the schools — all within 48 hours.

This past year, 13,000 flats of strawberries were provided to schools by the cooperative. That represents about 100 acres of strawberries, Fleetwood says.

The cooperative has a board of seven growers, most of whom also serve as representatives of statewide commodity organizations. Three NCDA&CS representatives serve the board as non-voting advisors. It is aided by a five-member advisory committee, comprised of child nutrition directors, which meets two or three times each year. The committee helps test new products and provides feedback to the cooperative regarding the success of trial products.

Boosting quality and distribution
The cooperative’s main purpose, in terms of its members’ operations, is to improve the quality and facilitate the distribution of members’ produce. Until the cooperative was formed, NCDA&CS was responsible for program operations, from farm-gate to schools. NCDA&CS still has many responsibilities, but is sharing more of them with growers.

Reasons for using the cooperative business structure included the desire to provide growers with control of marketing, to increase coordination and efficiency of operations and to comply with existing federal cooperative laws.

As member-owners of the business, growers have responsibilities to their cooperative. This includes signing a marketing agreement which contains requirements for produce they deliver. Requirements include the volume and type of produce, cooling, grading, washing and packaging. They also elect a board of directors and keep informed about how their cooperative is performing.

The road ahead
As with any cooperative, organization does not guarantee a market for the members. A supplier meeting for each commodity is held each year prior to bidding on the farm-toschool contract. All members participating as a commodity supplier must have a representative present at the meeting, where discussions are held regarding price, volume, varieties, grade standards and packing methods.

In late July, the NCDA&CS solicits bids on behalf of Child Nutrition Services for North Carolina Schools. Produce must be North Carolina-grown and certified as meeting USDA’s Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) food safety guidelines.

Successful bidders must also be able to provide all commodities listed and provide a $2-million liability policy. In its first year, the cooperative’s bid was chosen, and it has enjoyed a successful year with a high volume of high-quality produce.

Because of its low overhead and experience in feeding the state’s school children, the cooperative has a unique opportunity to keep fresh produce at the “peak of ripeness” in North Carolina schools.




Grower control and responsibility

All North Carolina Farm-To-School Cooperative members must be growers who are using the cooperative to market through the farm-to-school program. Thus, they have responsibility for monitoring operations, establishing standards and controlling the overall strategic direction of the cooperative.

The cooperative’s objectives are to:







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