“Receiving this highly competitive grant is a vote of confidence for our technology vision to increase the efficiency and profitability of small to mid-scale food producers, while enabling wholesale buyer access to these producers,” says Kami Semick, Founder and CEO at Food4All.
This news comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which has turned a spotlight on the importance of sourcing food locally. With limited in-person interactions, technology plays an increasingly important role in finding and buying directly from local food producers. Additionally, buying food locally has a measureable positive economic impact on communities. A 2018 study in Central Oregon found produce purchased directly from local farmers resulted in an additional 26% increase in community economic activity over produce purchased from non-local growers.
- VertueLab, Portland, Oregon assisted Food4All in the SBIR proposal development;
- Louisiana State University Agriculture Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana will assist with research;
- The project team will be based at Oregon State University’s Technology Co-Lab in Bend, Oregon and utilize OSU intern resources;
- MarketMaker, Champaign, Illinois, a national network connecting farmers and fisherman to buyers, will be involved as an outreach and engagement partner within Louisiana.
“We see the important role technology can play in streamlining transactions between food buyers and sellers. We are thrilled to be a part of this important project,” says Darlene Knipe, CEO of MarketMaker.
About Food4All www.food4all.com Food4All’s mission is to streamline the local food supply chain, creating healthy sustainable communities. Over 750 small to mid-scale food producers across the country have registered to sell direct to local consumers using Food4All. The SBIR grant project will demonstrate the feasibility of extending the platform to enable small to midscale food producers to sell directly to local and regional wholesale buyers.
