AIR DATE DECEMBER 8, 2022

Title: Farm to Table

Learn about community supported agriculture in central Florida and the many benefits of purchasing local produce.

Guests and Locations

The Farmacy, Founder – Cathy Clay

4Roots, Director of Program Partnerships – Rebecca Marshall

Local Food Accessibility Changes Our Communities in Countless Ways

Eating locally provides benefits for personal health and the farmers in our communities. This decision comes with several other benefits that create positive results environmentally, socially, and economically.

Local foods often have more nutrients, less packaging, and better flavors.

I recently had a conversation with Rebecca Marshall, the Director of Program Partnerships at 4Roots, where we talked about how to make local foods more accessible to everyone in Central Florida.

“We recognize that food touches everyone’s lives in one way or another,” Marshall said. “We all eat, some of us are involved in growing food, preparing food, distributing food, but it’s really a great connector, a common denominator for all of us.”

Even with that recognition, our global food system has a lot of problems. “We have food waste, diet-related diseases caused by our food system,” said Marshall. “The mission of 4Roots addresses those concerns.”

Supporting Local Farms Helps End Hunger for Everyone

I got to speak with Cathy Clay as part of this journey into local food accessibility. She and her husband founded The Farmacy in 2014, and they work closely with 4Roots.

“The Farmacy has kind of a double meaning there with the farm because we believe that whenever you get back to the farm and eat things that come from a farm, those are the things that you can really use to improve your health,” said Clay.

Cathy told me that all the farms she works with are for-profit businesses. “We’re supporting mom and pops that are part of our local community,” she said. “They’re making money and putting it back out there and continuing to feed the people that actually live here.

Investments from 4Roots have led to a 30,000-square-foot warehouse where the organization can aggregate local produce. “We buy as much as we can from local farmers all across Central Florida, bring it into this warehouse, and then get it back out there a few different programs,” said Marshall.

The Farmacy is the retail program in that setup. They run in-person farmer’s markets and an online marketplace at farmacynow.com. “You can place your order, subscribe almost like a community supported agriculture model, and support local food distribution,” Marshall said.

Changing Economic Times Create New Local Opportunities

Imported foods have often been cheaper because of lower labor costs overseas. In 2022, significant fuel and freight cost increases have changed the perspective, allowing local growers to compete and find customers, even with low-income families.

“Anyone who’s receiving SNAP benefits can come and get our local food,” said Clay. “We have another program offered by Feeding Florida called Fresh Access Bucks. It’s a dollar-for-dollar match, for any dollar that is spent on SNAP eligible food, they get a match in locally grown produce, up to $40.”

Marshall brought up their Feed the Need program as part of their local access opportunities. “We work every week with schools, churches, neighborhood centers, and other nonprofits, to provide fresh, healthy, locally grown produce at food distribution events around town.”

Local food systems are crucial to the health of our communities. Supply chain issues might impact the imports we see at stores, but those problems are rare for local growers and farms that supply their neighbors.

More information about 4Roots and the Farmacy is available at 4rootsfarm.org and jointhefarmacy.com.