Farm to Food Pantry

Requirements for data reporting, maintaining organization eligibility, and administrative procedures are outlined in the Guidance Document. After successful applicants are selected, we will send a poll to determine a day/time for monthly virtual cohort meetings that fit most of the agency coordinators’ schedules; we ask that F2FP coordinators attend at least 50% of these meetings.

Ultimately, we expect regional agencies to engage with F2FP as more than just a funding source, but as a foundation to develop sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships with local small-scale farms that engage your stakeholders in supporting equitable local food systems as well. Local food systems are all about relationships! Communication is key–especially with farms, so that they’re clear on what/how much produce you want delivered and when. We hope that you promote your local farm partnerships in your food distribution, on social media, and other outreach. 

HAH sends funding to the regional agency, which then pays the farms directly. 

It depends on capacity! In HAH’s programs, it has most commonly been the farms delivering — for example, it might be convenient for the farm to deliver on their way to/from a delivery to a farmers market, CSA pick-up site, or restaurant customer. In rural areas, agencies may arrange a more central pick up location. It is up to agencies to work with their farm partners to determine the most feasible plan.

WSDA has seasonality charts showing what fruits, herbs, vegetables, and legumes are in season in WA throughout the year. We expect agencies to talk with farm partners about the produce they’re planning to grow for the year and when it will be available.

Because of the multiple streams of perishable food in the food assistance system, we want to ensure the contractor is aware of the activity and avoid duplication of programming.

You can search for Lead Contractors by county at https://agr.wa.gov/services/food-access/access-food-near-you

Farms must be licensed with the Washington State Dept. of Revenue. Agencies are expected to work with small-scale farms (~ <100 acres) located within their service area or adjacent counties.

Pricing varies by region, so it may help to ask a farm local to you that already wholesales about the prices on their “fresh sheets.” If you’d be working with a direct-to-consumer farm that’s new to wholesaling, we’ve seen some F2FP agencies around WA identify 50% of a farmer’s market price as a standard for a high-end wholesale market. Farms may or may not be able to offer a discounted rate for food assistance customers or for produce that was unsold at the farmers market that day — we recommend that both parties be flexible, but F2FP aims to support farms with fair market prices.

See our list of 2021 regional agencies on this page below! We’ve traditionally worked with one regional agency per county, but may allow additional depending on county population and available funding. We will prioritize applicants serving areas that have not previously been reached by F2FP.