Thriving local food systems provide numerous benefits including: boosted local economies, increased access to healthy food, and more sustainable use of our planet’s resources.
Throughout our 16 years of supporting farms and food hubs through our online marketplace software, we’ve seen that regional food systems succeed when farmers and food hubs work together to make products easily accessible, affordable, and available for as long as the seasons will allow.
These factors drove the creation of Local Food Network, which makes it easier for producers, food hubs, and large buyers to dynamically and strategically work together to increase the sale and consumption of local food.
This innovative solution is being adopted by networks across the U.S. (and soon in Canada). We know that farms and food hubs are always looking for new and creative ways to create sustainable local food ecosystems in their state or region. Local Food Network is not just a technology solution — it is backed by our team of food hub and food system veterans. We’re excited to share our expertise and experience to help your network find success!
Watch our recorded webinar “Using Local Food Network to Build a Regional Food System.”
Watch the Webinar
Watch our recorded webinar “Using Local Food Network to Build a Regional Food System.”
Watch the WebinarWhat Solutions Does Local Food Network Offer Food Hubs and Farms?
Many food hubs and farms are already pooling their resources to expand the supply of local food through a network. LFM’s software solution is designed to make this process easier and solve several problems for them.
Create Shared Availability Lists
Local Food Network enables food hubs and farms within a network to create a shared availability list without any extra steps. When hubs want to share availability, it’s often meant creating and updating a separate spreadsheet, which adds an extra step to their workflow and quickly becomes outdated. With Local Food Network, these hubs can easily build a shared list that automatically populates from their existing LFM platform and updates in real time.
Add Products from Other Hubs to Your Storefront (and Vice Versa)
List product from another hub on your storefront — including the producer profile information — to supplement your supply and lengthen your season (which gets popular products in stock sooner and allows you to keep them longer).
Transact Within LFM
Food hubs and farms within a network can buy and sell with each other without leaving the LFM platform. Again, this eliminates extra work and paperwork.
Maintain Traceability
Local Food Network allows food hubs to maintain traceability through the entire supply chain (with no double entry). It’s easy to maintain traceability of all products back to the source and access the certifications, insurance documents, and other critical information from each producer.
Connect Directly to Buyers’ Procurement Platforms*
Local Food Network can integrate with the procurement platforms already used by restaurants, schools, hospitals, grocery stores, and other larger buyers. These entities sometimes require sellers to upload their products to the buyer’s existing purchasing software. Rather than going through the time-consumer process of hand-entering every item into these outside platforms, Local Food Network can automatically update a buyer’s platform based on a seller’s current availability, pricing, and pack size — and receive orders dynamically. *Please inquire about integration options and costs.
The benefits of local food are numerous — but right now, the local food supply chain is fragmented. In order to significantly grow local food sales, that supply chain must be connected and digitized. Local Food Connect brings the tools to do this to the table by integrating the local food supply at the source: the farmers and producers.
Learn more about one successful network — the Northwest Food Hub Network — in this in-depth guide.
Download the Guide
Learn more about one successful network — the Northwest Food Hub Network — in this in-depth guide.
Download the GuideLearn More about Local Food Network!
Are you interested in learning more about setting up or getting involved in a local food network? Check out the following resources:
- Our Resources for Networks page includes key features, answers to frequently asked questions, and more details on how Local Food Network can help you build a regional food system.
- We recently held a webinar on Local Food Network. View the recording here.
- Looking for a deeper dive into networks? Check out “Farm Fare’s Guide to Food Hub Networking,” which has practical advice on how to operate a transactional food hub network.
- Our case study on the Northwest Food Hub Network has numerous details on how this successful collaboration is working. Click the link to download it today!
