Dear Farmers To You Community,
It’s the new year, and we are just beginning to recover from the last. This was definitely a “hold on for the ride” kind of year for all of us at Farmers To You. I know that for many of you it has been the same.
I am looking forward to getting out of reaction mode this year. We have so many great improvements in store for our little food system—because even though our staff were swamped with the week-to-week volume of ordering and scrambling, they still found time to continue to work on projects and goals that we are passionate about. They are so amazing!
We have been working on building a new website and back office system. We are getting close to launching it and know you will love the ease in connecting with your farmers and producers. And, we will be able to share even more wisdom and information about the food you bring into your kitchen each week.
We are committed this year to expanding our capacity, as well as our farmers’, so we can serve the many families who have been waiting patiently on our waiting list to join us in this community. For someone who likes to always feed unexpected guests, it has been hard to say no. But very soon we will be saying yes!
We have so much great information about how your food is produced, who produces it, and how you can feed your family with ease and an eye to healthiness, but until now we have only been able to share that with you when you ask. This year, however, we brought on a few wonderful new team members who are so good at getting that information out to you before you even have to ask. I’m so excited!
Our whole team at FTY is totally passionate about making this great food we all enjoy accessible to people who are food insecure. Our donations to the Barre Food shelf have more than doubled this year (totalling over $50,000 worth of food, all thanks to your weekly donations) so we are looking for new partners to share this food with. That is a very exciting prospect and a good problem to have.
This partnership and community we have all created makes this work possible. In the coming year we will begin explorations on sharing what we’ve created with other foodsheds in our region and beyond.
Every week your commitment impacts all of the lives that make up our community: our farmers and producers, the rural areas in which they and many of our FTY staff live, and in your own communities where food is bringing you together in health and generosity.
Thank you for making this all possible.
May this new year be one of abundance, ease and grace!
With gratitude,
Greg
