Annual Conference
Conference Session
2017-11-11
"Making Ground in F2S Procurement: Bids, Policy and the Power of Data"Key Areas: Operations
Session: Session E - Saturday, November 11th: 2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
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Speaker(s): Ben Thomas - Farm to Cafeteria Senior Program Manager, Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Elizabeth Vaughan - Food Systems Manager, Community Health Improvement Partners
Objectives: Participants will take away best practices on compliant produce procurement bids and updates on State and Federal funds available to support local family farmers.
Description: Join us for a presentation and discussion on progress in bid development, Federal and State policies, and the use of data in farm to cafeteria procurement planning and evaluation. Learn about SB 782, a new bill that will provide grants for California grown purchasing and new equipment for school districts, and how districts are spending their USDA Foods funds with local growers. Lessons in farm to cafeteria friendly bids and data analysis will be discussed.
Speaker Bio(s):
Ben Thomas - Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Speaker Bio:
Ben manages CAFF's Farm to Cafeteria program, which facilitates sales between farmers and institutions, such as hospitals and schools. Ben has worked with college and university sustainable food procurement and education since 2009 and joined CAFF after managing the sustainable food service program at UC Davis Dining Services.
Elizabeth Vaughan - Community Health Improvement Partners
Speaker Bio:
As the Food Systems Manager at Community Health Improvement Partners (CHIP), Elizabeth works with schools, hospitals, produce distributors, local farmers and other key stakeholders to increase the availability of healthy, local food across San Diego County. Receiving her degree from UC Santa Barbara, Elizabeth strives to apply her background in business economics and accounting to the improvement of our local food economies. Since her onboarding at CHIP, 60 growers have been trained in Farm-to- Institution sales, numerous school districts have received technical support on grower friendly bid language, and over 500 buyers and sellers from the San Diego region have connected at the annual Good Food Showcase.
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