Farm to Institution Mentorship Application - Farmer

Grow Your Farm to Institution Connections, Skills, and Sales

Farm to Institution Mentorships 2016-2017

A limited number of Farm to Institution Mentorships will be developed throughout the state to help participants navigate barriers, access existing resources and opportunities, and to accelerate Farm to Institution success.

If selected through the application and interview process, your farm (or group of farms) will be matched with a targeted team made up of relevant topic experts and practitioners on-the-ground to provide technical assistance. The length and type of mentorship will be designed on a case-by-case basis, but may be a combination of one or more remote or in-person meetings. There will be no cost for these services.

Please fill out the following information completely and accurately. Once you have submitted your application, we will contact you if we have any questions about the information provided, and may conduct a brief interview to learn more, before determining next steps.

Question Title

* 1. Contact Information

Name *

Business

Address *

Address 2

City/Town *

State/Province *

ZIP/Postal Code *

Country

Email Address *

Phone Number *

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* 2. What kind of business(es) would you like to increase your sales of produce to? (check all that apply)

K-12 school food service

Hospital food service

College food service

Child care center/day care home

Caterers

Distributors/Aggregators

Other, e.g. long term care facility, food shelf or food bank

Other (please specify)

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* 3. How did you hear about this opportunity?

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* 4. Have you sold edible specialty crops (fruits, vegetables, nuts, or herbs) to institutions before? If so, please outline the details of your experience below, including what local products, about how many accounts with institutions, an estimated income from local institutions annually, successes, and challenges:

Question Title

* 5. Right now, what prevents you from selling more of your products to institutions? (check all that apply)

Lack of connections with local buyers

Lack of processing infrastructure

Lack of knowledge about institutional purchasing practices and regulations

Need for aggregation

Season extension

Lack of Food Safety training or plan in place

Distribution issues

Does not apply

Other (please specify)

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* 6. Explain your interest in the Farm to Institution mentorship and how this practical support fits into your farm’s future plans. What are your objectives? What are you interested in learning? Is this the right time? Is there interest from institutions in your community to expand purchasing of local food?

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* 7. Is there anything else that you would like us to know regarding why you are best suited to receive targeted technical assistance to help expand your local food purchasing?

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this application.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. A completed application does not guarantee mentorship.