What goes in: Food ready for sale or distribution, sales outlets, marketing efforts
What comes out: Food ready for purchase and preparation
In the distribution step, food gets to those who will prepare it for consumption. There is an almost endless variety of ways to distribute food, both for a fee and for free.
Restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, and cooperatives sell to the general public. Direct-to-consumer sales outlets like farmers’ markets, farm stands, and CSAs all link food producers directly to their customers. Food banks distribute food to partner food pantries where they provide it for free to low-income households.
Wholesalers combine products from many producers to sell to schools, hospitals, restaurants, and grocery stores. These large-scale buyers often have different requirements than those who sell food to the general public—such as liquid eggs for restaurants, and milk in cartons for schools—and it can be difficult for producers to quickly pivot their production systems to meet different market needs.
As schools and restaurants closed due to the pandemic, these sales dropped sharply, contributing to the phenomenon of heightened food waste during the global pandemic.
A major issue related to distribution is food access. Programs like SNAP and WIC are essential social safety net programs that help households purchase nutritious and culturally relevant food. SFC is currently leading the statewide expansion of the Double Up Food Bucks program, which doubles the value of SNAP and WIC benefits at many farmers’ markets and other local food sales outlets so that everyone can support their local food economy, regardless of income.
Some Central Texas distributors: SFC farmers’ markets and other local outlets; online direct-to-consumer stores selling locally produced food, like Farmshare Austin and Farmhouse Delivery; CSAs (search on Local Harvest); Central Texas Food Bank