Responds to COVID-19
Responds to COVID-19
Responds to COVID-19
moving from farmers to your table
Responds to COVID-19
COVID-19 Food Strategy
COVID-19 Food Strategy
SAVE YOUR LOCAL FARMS, AND YOUR FOOD...
Carolina Farm Trust’s mission is to support our local food system and that means making sure you can get food from your local farmers. COVID-19 changes things daily, we have a delicate food system, we need a strong system to keep food moving from farmers to your table. Carolina Farm Trusts COVID-19 Farm and Food Rescue Plan will create a strong system.
CREATING A STRONG SYSTEM
• Support existing on ground efforts
• Meet farmers short term needs
• Commit immediately to increasing production
• Bring cash flow to restaurants, caterers and food trucks
• Keep distribution as safe as possible
We are asking for your help in supporting our local food system. Make a donation today to the Charlotte Region COVID-19 Farm and Food Rescue Plan.
Donate today and our donation manager will wave the processing fee.
HOW WE WILL TAKE ACTION
To address the impending break in our food supply chain, Carolina Farm Trust is seeking to raise an initial investment of $3,000,000.00 to implement an immediate action plan that reengages a local food supply with regional farmers. With crossing the $250,000.00 mark, we will begin to implement our strategy outlined below/above, as we continue to fundraise for the broader initiative.
COVID-19 Food strategy
Farming Community
• Buy CSA’s from regional farms and then distribute accordingly to:
◦ Identified individual families – EBT/SNAP Holders
◦ Food Trucks/Restaurants who make meals for Students displaced by school closings
◦ It will take a few weeks before the first CSA’s are ready for distribution
• Coordinate any compost/ mulch that is needed and deliver it to farms
• Coordinate who needs equipment to speed up the planting process
• Reach out to Ingersoll Rand/Trane Technologies to coordinate refrigerated trucks from a Thermo King or rent them to secure them before they are all out of stock: These will be positioned around the region for storage and on farms to make the shelf life longer throughout summer months
• Work with livestock farmers to increase production and coordinate with commodity farmers to make sure livestock farmers have feed.
• Reach out to all local processing plants to understand impact and what we can do to keep them operating. Coordinating logistics to offer support to get livestock to processing facilities and then back to the farm for sale.
• Coordinate logistics with farmers markets to meet their customers needs if markets are temporarily closed or not well attended out of fear.
• Coordinate with all Farmers with bees and address and needs there for honey production
• Coordinate with Mills around the region and look to commodity farmers who can support an increase in production of flour etc
• Coordinate with all local Dairy farms to understand needs of local pasteurization and how to build a direct market.
• Coordinate with private and public landowners to identify potential land to build more Urban Farms in the middle of communities.
CSA's
Quantity
500
Price Estimate
$450.00
Total
$225,000
Produce (lbs)
Quantity
250,000
Price Estimate
$3.00
Total
$750,000
Meat (lbs)
Quantity
100,000
Price Estimate
$6.50
Total
$650,000
Eggs
Quantity
12,000
Price Estimate
$4.00
Total
$48,000
Short-Term Equipment Rental
To Speed Up Infrastructure Builds
Total
$100,000
Cash Flow Assitance
For Farmers
Total
$50,000
Funds
To Increase Production
Total
$700,000
Packaging/ Boxes
For Farmers
Total
$10,000
Distribution
• Plan out logistically how to home deliver and deliver to institutions (nursing homes, shelters, etc)
• Secure trucks for deliveries
• Set up community areas for pick up to limit population interaction
Refrigerated Trucks
Rental
Quantity
10
Price Estimate
$18,000.00
Total
$180,000
Delivery Trucks
Rental
Quantity
20
Price Estimate
$10,500.00
Total
$210,000
Delivery Drivers
($15/Hour, 40 Hours per week, 12 week period)
Quantity
20
Price Estimate
$7,200.00
Total
$144,000
Local Restaurant Community & Food trucks
• Identify food trucks that can be stationed around the county to serve different communities. Those that can pay, pay with pay it forward options, but no one will be turned away. Areas with low access to food and/or the inability to cook for themselves will be a priority.
• Identify restaurants to the same as above with carry out
• Identify caterers to make bone broth/ soups, canning, value added products- peanut butter, jelly, etc. – to have longer shelf life items
• Coordinate internally how to keep the food supply chain to meet demand
Cash Flow Assistance
Total
$25,000
No Turn Away Policy
Total
$30,000
Packaging
Total
$5,000
Non Profits
• Understand the needs and gaps of our Non Profit Partners
• Get real food with nutrition into all pantries
• Fund a substantial budget for matching dollars with EBT/ SNAP
EBT Match
For Double Up Bucks Program
Total
$20,000
Support Staff
($15/Hour, 40 Hours per week, 12 week period)
Additional Non Profit Partners that need help
Quantity
10
Price Estimate
$7,200.00
Total
$72,000
CFT Staff & Admin
Zack Wyatt
($4k/month, 3 month period)
Total
$12,000
Co-lead
(Confirmed Hire once funds available) ($4K/month)
Total
$12,000
TBD Staff
($15/Hour, 40 Hours per week, 12 week period)
Quantity
3
Price Estimate
$7,200.00
Total
$21,600
CFT Admin
Total
$15,000
Urban Farm at Aldersgate
Total
$50,000
Partner Support
Please note that the WBNC Board of Directors fully supports Carolina Farm Trust’s Covid-19 Action Plan. We know that in the coming weeks and months the economic impacts associated with this pandemic (e.g. job loss, health access, food access, and housing stability) will have major implications on communities of color (particularly like the West Boulevard Corridor) both from a racial equity perspective as well as and economic equity perspective.
Rickey Hall
Board Chair
704-461-2464
ACTION PLAN
The COVID-19 Farm and Food recovery strategy will address the concerns of our residents, while simultaneously easing supply chain connectivity that our farming community depends on for survival. With your support, farmers will begin to reconnect with the local food supply chain, as that our community begins to understand the challenges ahead and the immediate steps that need to be taken.
We realize the significant amount this strategy is aiming to raise. This is a long term-plan developed with the local farm network. When fully operational, more funds will be needed. But at Carolina Farm Trust we must first earn your faith and confidence as a community. Our strategy will get us there together. While there are many unknowns at this point, we do know this: having a thriving local food system and economy will stabilize our food chain and begin to lay a long ago eroded foundation of food security. Local food is paramount.
In order to have a coordinated effort in the region, initial support will be key. This plan will leverage current connections to hire preliminary staff, with priority to those who have recently been laid off to begin outreach and coordination efforts. (staff will be paid /$15/hour)
COVID-19 Food Strategy
YOUR DONATED FUNDS
◦ Financial support to buy product from farms
◦ Financial support to restaurant owners, food trucks and local vendors if cash flow is an issue buying product
◦ Financial support to restaurants, chefs, food trucks and local vendors for a no turn away policy. Pay encouraged, Pay it forward encouraged.
◦ Equipment needed for farms to use as necessary
◦ A heavy amount will be used to increase production
◦ Farm labor if farms are running into cash flow issues
◦ EBT matching
◦ Distribution to keep supply chains running to all partners
BY DOING SO WE ARE PUTTING MONEY DIRECTLY INTO THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
Long Term goal is to use this opportunity to build the infrastructure of a vibrant diversified local food economy/system that supports our citizens. A transparent accounting system will be used to account for all funds. All funds will be used to execute above and all appropriate existing on the ground community efforts will be utilized before new initiatives are created.
OTHER WAYS TO CONTACT US
All Farm Inbound Requests
All Non Profit Inbound Requests
All Food Truck/ Chef/ Restaurant Inbound Requests
Any Individual/Group Inbound Request