HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Local farmers have faced economic challenges during the pandemic. However, the Food Bank of North Alabama has stepped in to help by providing The Farm Food Collaborative.
This food hub has been in operation for six years. The food hub helps farmers in North and Central Alabama with sales and delivery logistics.
"It has been very difficult right now with COVID...Farmers locally have really had some struggles. So we're really happy to be able to help them," says Food Bank of North Alabama Executive Director, Shirley Schofield.
The Farm Food Collaborative is North Alabama's first local food hub. Schofield says more than half the farms in the area were struggling and going into debt.
The Farm Food Collaborative helps farmers find places to sell their product.
"They're not necessarily thinking about how to do their sales, how to make sure they got their invoices. That's not why they got into this business. They got into it because they wanted to grow food," added Schofield.
"Some years that means helping them with one-on-one technical assistance for food safety certifications. Some years that means they need a stronger push with marketing," says The Farm Food Collaborative Co-Manager, Carey Martin-Lane.
Martin-Lane says this also helps the local economy. "What we try to do is capture as much as possible of those food dollars bring them in to our local economy and get them circulating, and recirculating to make our local economy as strong as possible."
This food hub also helps locals have access to fresh farm produce that is close and home-grown.
"If we're able to use the foods that are grown right here, they're still going to be the freshest, have the most nutritious, the most nutrients still available to them, so they're still going to be extremely healthy for everyone," says Schofield.
For more information on The Farm Food Collaborative, click here.
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