Knowledge Bank

The Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) is working with OSU Extension and central Ohio partners to improve food security in its community. With the support of a three-year, 750,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the project is supporting formation of a network of more than 100 low-income households, particularly in communities of color, that grow and sell food to Ohio State. The ultimate goal is to increase household food security and self-reliance for fresh food, while creating new economic opportunities through Ohio State's buying power. Ohio ranks among the worst states in the nation for food security, but Ohio State is making a major investment in a systems approach to tackling this challenge. The university set a goal of increasing locally and sustainably sourced food to 40 percent of the up to $39 million in annual food purchasing by 2025. This new focus on local sourcing creates economic pull to producers in surrounding communities, many of which are well above the national average household food insecurity rates. The network would be composed of many farmers or gardeners and one very large buyer, Ohio State, institution-supported agriculture, or the Buckeye ISA. Partnerships have been formed with community partners, government agencies and allied organizations, such as the City of Columbus, Franklin County, Columbus Public Health, Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Lowe's, to provide the human and social capital for technical training and business support to the producer network, by tackling such challenges as land access, production, processing and food safety, logistics and distribution, business and leadership. Partnerships have also been formed with community groups who have a long-standing commitment to improve food security, including: Parsons Area Merchants Association, Greater Columbus Growing Coalition, The Charles Madison Nabrit Memorial Garden, Local Matters, and Franklinton Farms. The project addresses many of the action items outlined in the Columbus and Franklin County Local Food Action Plan, including: connecting new or growing small-scale food businesses to financial and technical assistance, increasing capacity for more residents to grow food for themselves and their neighbors, institutional buyers adopting food purchasing policies to support increased purchases of healthy and local food, and engaging underrepresented communities in developing and implementing culturally appropriate food assistance, education, nutrition, gardening, and cooking programs. Through this proposal, we hope to reach conference attendees interested in creating or expanding local and sustainable food systems and/or working in underserved communities. We also hope to reach those interested in forming multi-agency partnerships and collaborations to increase outreach and impact.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Casey Hoy, faculty director, Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT), hoy.1@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Timothy McDermott, OSU Extension educator, Franklin County; Angela Latham, program coordinator, Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT)