Local Agriculture Market Programs (LAMP) are transformative grants in the good food sector. They provide an influx of money for large-scale projects that support the development, coordination, and expansion of direct producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets and enterprises, and value-added agricultural products. We often recommend these grants for our clients to help them […]
With food shortages exacerbated by the pandemic, the Biden administration has announced a flurry of initiatives and funding opportunities to increase resiliency in food supply chains. Tucked into these announcements is the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreements Program, one we at New Venture Advisors are keeping an eye on. The LFPA program is part […]
The Good Food Collective (GFC) aims to build a vibrant economy, steward natural resources, and support the physical and cultural health of the Durango, Colorado area by investing in the regional food system. In collaboration with many local partners, GFC harvests otherwise wasted food to address food insecurity and keep the community free of food […]
The City of Wichita (pop’n 390,000), located in Sedgwick County, Kansas, is in the south-central part of the state. For the past 20 years, the Health and Wellness Coalition of Wichita has promoted people, programs, and policies that build a healthier community. The Coalition fosters long-term partnerships among public health, business, government, grassroots organizations, planners, […]
The Linn County Food Systems Council has ambitious goals to improve Linn County’s food system from production to consumption in order to build resilient supply chains that feed the community and stimulate economic development. The council’s primary goal is to increase access to and consumption of nutritious foods by boosting the volume and diversity of […]
Food co-ops are rooted in social justice movements, but they have experienced the most growth during periods of economic crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for equitable access to food, but the pandemic has sparked a new level of interest in local food for a variety of reasons, including more reliable […]
Food has never been a bigger story than since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. The news has been heartbreaking and at the same time awe-inspiring to see the scale of response and sheer ingenuity in many corners of the food system. One good thing in the midst of this ongoing pandemic is that it […]
Sometimes the perfect storm for innovation is a crisis (or global pandemic) that pushes organizations further into their mission. Or it creates an opportunity to try something that under normal conditions would seem outrageous, but suddenly seems like the only option to meet the real-time needs of the community. We have been catching up with […]
As many of you know, we publish a monthly Good Food Brief with the big and small stories that chronicle trends in the food industry. Sometimes we come across programs that we wish had news coverage so that we could share them with you. Programs that serve often excluded communities, that deploy capital to build […]
We have had the opportunity to work with a great many businesses, nonprofits, and government entities that are making significant impacts within the good food industry. One of the biggest barriers we’ve witnessed in moving forward with an idea or scaling operations is the ability to secure funding. Even businesses with a revenue generating stream […]
The Whatcom County Food System Committee recently conducted a community food assessment that pointed to key opportunities to build a more robust and resilient regional food system. New Venture Advisors will partner with Whatcom County staff and the Food System Committee to draft a Whatcom County Food System Plan that builds upon these findings. This Plan will focus on six sectors of the food system including fishing, farming, labor, food access, environment, and waste, and will be informed by an inclusive and equitable community engagement process. The Food System Plan will provide the county with a policy roadmap that will strengthen the local food system for years to come. (2022)
The Whatcom Community Foundation invests in activities and organizations that improve the ability of people to help themselves, increase connections among people, and take cooperative approaches to community issues. WCF is exploring the development of a local food campus on a waterfront property that would become a multi-tenant site, anchored by a school district commissary. The goal is to strengthen Whatcom County’s local food system by promoting health equity, forging tangible strategic connections between food production organizations, and helping farmers connect with institutional markets. NVA developed the business case for this ambitious project and continues to support its development. (2022)