BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  – Throughout Indiana, a group of value chain professionals is working to bring farm-fresh food to schools, restaurants and other venues.

FARMWISE Indiana (Food and Agricultural Resilience through Markets, Wellness, Innovation, Stewardship and Engagement) aims to connect farmers and food producers with institutional buyers, schools, universities, restaurants, retail outlets and healthcare providers by increasing access to value-based procurement pathways.

Program leaders said that buyers in Indiana spend more than $500 million annually on food, and even a small share of that directed to local farms could make a big impact on the economy.

“It’s really, really hard for a farmer who might be used to direct-to-consumer sales, or they might be used to working with a distributor, to then walk down the street to the school and say, ‘Hey, I’d like to serve to your school,’” FARMWISE founder Jodee Smith said. “Farmers don’t have a lot of time, buyers don’t have a lot of time, and there’s a lot of coordination and conversations and relationship building that needs to happen before that transaction can occur.”

Last month the organization received new funding and launched as a program within Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute. It is powered by Builders Initiative.

“Every county has a school system. Every county has wholesale buyers. They have restaurants, we have hospitals, we have universities and colleges,” Smith said. “Everyone works in their sort of geographic region with stakeholders there. The launch of FARMWISE Indiana is sort of this new way of professionalizing value chain work. FARMWISE Indiana is about building relationships that benefit everyone from farmers and food producers to the communities they nourish. We’re focused on making local food a bigger part of Indiana’s economy and identity.”

The program’s network of 12 value chain professionals aims to build bridges and create opportunities for farmers within different markets across Indiana. Two of the professionals work in partnership with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Indiana Department of Health.

According to the USDA Census of Agriculture, sales from farmers to wholesale buyers increased 280 percent from 2017 to 2022, totaling more than $305 million. More than 50 percent of food service buyers surveyed define local as being grown or made in Indiana. Substituting food grown and made in Indiana can boost the food economy.

“We know that those kinds of buyers spend well over $500 million a year in Indiana alone, and so we think that if we can just get a small percentage of that going to our regional local farmers, then that can really help the local economy, the local food system,” said Greg Koehler, a value chain professional with FARMWISE.

One farmer benefiting from the program is Ryan Lee, owner of Lee’s Edible Acres in North Liberty. His farm produces asparagus, blackberries, tomatoes, eggplants, squash and other crops. FARMWISE has helped connect him with new wholesale buyers, including university chefs preparing for the next growing season.

“FARMWISE specifically has connected me with wholesale buyers, establishing relationships and setting the groundwork in so that I can continue those relationships and develop customers to the farm,” Lee said.

Lee said that although some relationships are still in the planning stage, farmers and buyers are already discussing crop needs and quantities for upcoming seasons. Lee is now planning and preparing for his next growing season and communicating with an Indiana University South Bend chef about their future produce needs. This forward planning ensures that farmers can grow exactly what buyers require, reducing waste and improving efficiency.

Surveys have shown that buyers are motivated to buy local because of quality, freshness and taste. However, lack of time and challenges buying local through distributors are the top barriers for buyers.

“Our bottom line is we really want to keep farmers farming, and to sort of shift how we think about buying food,” Smith said. “It’s really not just the home consumer that needs to be part of this conversation, but our institutional buyers and our wholesale buyers of food. We’ve currently got a research project that is highlighting the achievements of chefs and buyers in Indiana who are purchasing local. It all takes years of planning and years of conversation.”