Local First
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Local First
Growing support for local growers
Our impact focus includes our commitment to increasing healthy food access while supporting local farmers.
As part of our work with the Michigan Good Food Fund, we brought together 13 early-stage grocers from across the state to explore how to elevate locally sourced food in the grocery setting.
Leading the charge was Argus Farm Stop. A hybrid café and year-round farmers market, Argus directs 75 cents of every $1 spent on local produce back to the farmer that grew it. Since 2014, it has expanded to two locations and paid $8+ million to local food producers, all within 50 miles of its Southeast Michigan headquarters.
Over the course of a three-day virtual training, the Argus team shared knowledge, tips, best practices, and lessons learned from its business model. The course included an overview of what it takes to open and operate this type of store model as well as how best to work with local farms to ensure fresh inventory. Detroit-based chef and restaurateur Rohani Foulkes and Washtenaw County Local Foods Coordinator Jae Gerhart augmented the training with their field insights.
The content resonated with participants, whose missions include making an investment in their communities, expanding access to healthy food, advancing food sovereignty, and increasing transparency in the food system.
From infrastructure to culture, the training set the stage for a new group of food leaders to launch businesses that generate benefits from farm to (every) fork.