As South Central Madison grows, our commitment to local and regional foods grows with it. Farmers throughout the 56 county “foodshed” provide an abundance of fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and dairy products. Farmers markets are an important market, especially for beginning farmers. Some of these farmers grow their businesses to serve larger markets, and small-medium wholesale is an under realized opportunity for their farm products. As one farmer put it, “Farmers markets give street cred. CSAs are for R&D. But to make money farming, we need wholesale markets.”

This labor of love began, by some accounts, in 2003. The cooperative wholesale distributor network had just collapsed and bits were taken over by United Natural Foods, a for-profit company on the East Coast. In addition to serving food coops across the country, this natural foods distributor serves Whole Foods, now a subsidiary of Amazon.

For small and medium food wholesalers to compete, they need warehousing and a shared information platform to succeed. And that is where we come in.

Thanks for checking us out and thinking about ways you can help move this project forward. We need skilled volunteers and capital to fulfill the needs of farmers, processors, and eaters committed to our regional food economy. Join us!