It’s a familiar story by now… When the pandemic hit last March, many people confronted empty grocery store shelves for the first time, while simultaneously reading news stories of farmers dumping truckloads of milk. The pandemic revealed that conventional supply chains are just that: rigid and linear chains, with single points of failure. If one link breaks, the chain falls apart. On both large and small farms, farmers’ success through the pandemic depended on their market channels and ability to pivot to new ways of doing business, like online sales or delivery. In the D.C. region, mission-driven food hub and grocery delivery company 4P Foods helped small farmers and food businesses pivot and benefit from the huge increase in demand for grocery delivery, especially from people looking for a convenient way to support local, sustainable, and independent businesses.
Sign up now and get $15 off your first order of produce, meat, dairy, and more with code DCIST15 at 4pfoods.com.
Since 2014, 4P has worked with a network of small farmers to get their food onto more forks by delivering from farm to doorstep, while also partnering with local organizations to increase equitable access to healthy food. From 2019 to 2020, 4P Foods tripled their spend with local farmers, with nearly $3 million dollars going to Virginia farmers and producers alone, not to mention millions more through their relationships with over 200 growers and food hubs up and down the East Coast. 4P is gearing up for an even stronger 2021 through intentional production planning with partner growers to ensure mutual success.
While local is a key priority, 4P’s values go beyond geography to what they call “Good Food.” Good Food provides nourishment and enables people to thrive, is equitably accessible to everyone, is sustainably or (better yet) regeneratively produced, comes from a supply chain that treats people and animals with respect, and promotes health and economic security for all. In 2020, they delivered over 25,000 bags of groceries to community partners throughout the DMV, providing nutrient-dense ingredients for hundreds of thousands of meals for people experiencing food insecurity and procurement and logistics support for partnering food access organizations.
The takeaway from 2020 is this: support the food that supports your values. If you want an alternative to the brittle, extractive, and opaque conventional food supply chain, support your local food system. Rather than a chain, 4P Foods is building a Good Food net that is adaptable, highly interconnected, and driven by the values of its many constituents. This grassroots approach provides much-needed resilience, but it requires widespread and consistent support, even when things are “normal.” Then, when the next challenge or crisis arises, the local food system is ready to do what it does best—sustain and nourish its community.
You can support farmers and producers with convenient deliveries of ethical groceries from 4P Foods. Get $15 off your first order with discount code DCIST15. Sign up today at 4pfoods.com.
