SCHUMER DELIVERS OVER $700,000 IN FED FUNDING FOR BUFFALO’S FRESHFIX TO EXPAND OPERATIONS AND CONNECT LOCAL FARMERS WITH MORE WESTERN NY BUYERS— HELPING BUILD A ROBUST AND RESILIENT LOCAL FOOD ECONOMY TO REDUCE FOOD INSECURITY ACROSS THE REGION
Schumer Says Fed Funding Will Help Buffalo-Based FreshFix Expand Regional Food Hub To Support Small Farmers, Local Food Businesses, And Nonprofits In WNY
FreshFix Has Been Supporting Local And Regional Farmers Since 2016 – Now, Fed $$$ Will Fuel Expansion To Serve New Wholesale Markets, Such As Restaurants, Small Retailers, Nonprofits And Other Small Food Businesses
Schumer: Fed $$$ Will Plant The Seeds For FreshFix To Supply The Food Future Of Buffalo!
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced $732,597 in federal funding for Buffalo’s FreshFix through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service to expand operations and help connect more local farmers, producers with Western New York buyers, such as restaurants, small retailers, nonprofits and other small food businesses working to address food insecurity in Western New York.
“People deserve easy access to fresh, healthy locally grown affordable food from here in Western New York. That’s why I’m proud to deliver this USDA investment to help Buffalo’s FreshFix expand their operations – a win-win supporting farmers and producers, and bolstering local food businesses and nonprofits working to address food insecurity in the region,” said Senator Schumer. “Buffalo’s FreshFix has been growing their operations since 2016, helping integrate locally grown produce for home delivery to retail customers, nonprofits, and small food businesses. These federal dollars will help the organization create an even more robust and resilient local food economy that keeps local farmers and producers connected to Western NY buyers, ensuring a fresh and sustainable food future for Buffalo families.”
“We work with over 40 small local farmers throughout the year for our retail operation,” said Joshua Bowen, FreshFix Co-Founder. “In talking to these farmers every week, we were seeing a gap in local food aggregation and marketing for small farmers and felt that we could help fill it.”
“The project was originally driven by our nonprofit partners, specifically mobile markets who face significant challenges procuring smaller quantities of local food at wholesale prices,” said Dr. Lucia Leone, Associate Professor of Community Health and Health Behavior at the University at Buffalo and FreshFix Co-Founder. “Being recognized as a 2023 Local Food Promotion Program awardee by the USDA is an honor and validation to our team’s commitment to supporting local agriculture and cultivating a stronger, more equitable food system.”
Schumer explained that FreshFix has been supporting local and regional farmers since 2016 through aggregating, distributing, and marketing of local food to retail customers in WNY. Currently, the organization partners with local farmers to deliver farm fresh foods to customers, but the expanded food hub will be aimed at improving access to healthy and affordable foods to underserved communities in Western New York. The FreshFix Food Hub is currently located in the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal building, which was originally built in the 1930s and used as a food distribution hub for Buffalo residents. The federal investment will be used to subsidize the cost of wholesale aggregation, allowing new buyers access to the locally grown food from small farmers and help small farmers increase their capacity for selling wholesale.
Schumer said that currently, many food distributors in Western New York only work with a handful of local farmers but feel that the overall market is somewhat disjointed and sporadic. In many cases, smaller farms do not have the experience and capability to properly handle invoicing, and they do not have the time for more flexible deliveries throughout the week. Other larger distributors can’t accept the smaller volumes of food that local farms offer and often have minimum order requirements. Schumer said with this federal investment, FreshFix will help fix these issues by giving local distributors access to a centralized food hub that specifically focuses on local farm purchases and manages the logistics of working with multiple sellers – ultimately allowing buyers to access to more farms throughout Western NY and addressing a need for streamlined food aggregation and distribution for small farmers and buyers. To ensure success, FreshFix will train and provide supplies to farmers and coordinate a campaign to promote locally grown food to consumers.
This federal funding is in partnership with the University at Buffalo’s Veggie Van Training Center (VVTC) and the Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP). The VVTC will work with FreshFix to provide technical assistance to nonprofits on developing food insecurity programming. FreshFix will also work with partners including the University at Buffalo to provide evaluation, partnership development, campaign tracking, and technical assistance to nonprofits on developing food insecurity programming, as well as recruiting entrepreneurs to create value-added products using excess produce, thereby reducing farm waste.
Schumer has been a strong advocate for addressing food insecurity in Western New York. Last year, Schumer secured $2 million to expand FeedMore WNY’s facility in the omnibus end-of-year spending package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. This funding covered a large-scale expansion to more than double the current capacity and office space, allowing for FeedMore WNY to significantly bolster their operations, boost productivity, and improve logistics, all with a focus on helping to better combat hunger in Western NY. Additionally, just last week, Schumer announced over $40 million for food organizations across the state through the USDA funded New York Food for New York Families program with Governor Hochul, including $2 million for FeedMore and millions more for other Western NY food organizations and school districts.
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