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Supporting beginning and small producers of color by sharing different resources the food bank can offer. Working cross departmentally to engage supporting mechanism for producers and their customers with things like SNAP/DUFB dollars and Veggie RX, agency relations with local food purchasing dollars.
Interested in creating a more solid foundation that is community centered to address food access holistically

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Connection from all points in the food system. I am interested in both collaborating within and also outside of my food bank to see how others work and to learn how to move the needle collectively away from the statue quo. Especially when it comes to elevating Black, Indigenous and producers of color.

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I can offer Time. For brainstorming on different and creative food system community partnerships, as well as talking and connecting on our programming and share successes, challenges and opportunities.

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Building relationships with Indigenous communities. How do I initiate that?

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I can share how our food banks works with a food hub, builds relationships with growers, partners with other entities to build out local food systems

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Currently working with a food hub. Also have 2 new areas of focus. One is increasing our percentage of spend on DEI vendors throughout our organization. The other is working with farmers markets as food hubs and connecting agency partners with these famers markets to place orders and pay full price.

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I can offer how we work with food hubs, connect them with resources for learning about and improving food safety, and help them understand procurement. Also how we connect food hub vendors directly with partner agencies for direct ordering/delivery

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Supporting our local food producers, keep it local and working on getting the word out via the local Farm Bureau

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Right now we are working on getting the scope of practice signed by the state of Arizona. We haven't been officially given the approval to begin spending. This is causing some of our growers to miss seasons, throw away food and not want to be a part of our programs. Why isn't there a streamlined way of approving these funds? We wrote the grant to start spending in October, then heard that we were approved in February to begin spending in March. It's is now April.... I think we all get it.

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Right now we are working on getting the scope of practice signed by the state of Arizona. We haven't been officially given the approval to begin spending. This is causing some of our growers to miss seasons, throw away food and not want to be a part of our programs. Why isn't there a streamlined way of approving these funds? We wrote the grant to start spending in October, then heard that we were approved in February to begin spending in March. It's is now April.... I think we all get it.

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Working on more thoughtful data collection around BIPOC food sourcing. E.g. how can we quantifiably measure the work that is being done in this space at SHSW.

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Expanding partnerships with Hmong growers in our NE footprint

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How can we continue long term relationships with our local producers.  Perhaps, a PPO for excess product, need some negotiating tips and successes from others please

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Working on a five-year plan for growing our OK Farm to Table Program to meet our food bank's strategic goal to source at least 17.55 million pounds of fruits and vegetables annually from local and regional producers, as well as programming that will help increase the quantity and capacity of fruit and vegetable growers in Oklahoma.

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How to track grants internally in less manual ways. How to ensure we are not "double-dipping" on grant use when we have many overlapping grants

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At Economic Mobility Services we believe that food banks can leverage the strength of our infrastructure as a starting point for building an inclusive, community-centered, food-based economy.

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Systems or methods that other FBs use to track grants and what they are applied to

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Access to funds to support purchasing of supplies & translation services. We are also working on growing the Tribal Elder Food Box Program to be a more regional effort (to support Indigenous producers across the region)- so I need support with logistics and transportation of goods across states within the Great Lakes Region.

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Need a more collaborative and approachable "rolodex" of farmers and growers in State of WI, specifically those that identify as BIPOC. SHSW has the $ (presently, knock on wood), and the desire to do more in this space; however, locating growers who may want to work with us can be a challenge at times.

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Building a network of BIPOC farmers and ranchers to help grow and support their communities.

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At Economic Mobility Services, we know that the labor system that links farmworkers to warehouse drivers and the economic system that lets some businesses thrive while shutting the door for others are interconnected and our goal is to support food banks – equipping them with tools, resources and knowledge to advance best practices that make structural shifts in economic disparities faced by marginalized people and communities.

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We need more than anything to get US/State approval to start spending in Arizona. Our farmers are hurting right now. As much as we told them not to plant, not to count on these dollars they still were under the impression that by now we would be purchasing from them. They don't understand government funding and don't want to. We told them as program managers that we would be spending right now and we aren't. Bottom line. What is holding up state approval? Can someone help AZ push this along?

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We need more than anything to get US/State approval to start spending in Arizona. Our farmers are hurting right now. As much as we told them not to plant, not to count on these dollars they still were under the impression that by now we would be purchasing from them. They don't understand government funding and don't want to. We told them as program managers that we would be spending right now and we aren't. Bottom line. What is holding up state approval? Can someone help AZ push this along?

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Find new ways to get fresh and local produce out to the community

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Find new ways to get fresh and local produce out to the community

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Speedier and more efficient payment systems for getting timely payments to our producer partners. A more efficient inventory system and processes that can handle the volume of fruits and vegetables that we want to source, a system that would include categories/varieties of produce rather than all produce coded under umbrella item codes. Technology integration into our warehouse and inventory systems and processes: using paper/excel/CEREs is so inefficient.

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A way to support BIPOC ranchers and farmers pre-purchasing. Most farmers lack the funds to get started.

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I would love to share  program management software tools, farming visit processes, food safety plan support, anything farmer support led! :) 

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I would love to share  program management software tools, farming visit processes, food safety plan support, anything farmer support led! :) 

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I can offer experience and insight into what BIPOC farmers and growers need to be successful.

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I can offer to share my experiences so far in working with local producers in OK.

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Technical assistance to provide to small producers, particularly our historically marginalized and disadvantaged growers. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel if others have technical assistance to provide/ lists of grants available to great lakes region producers

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How do we increase attendance and reenergize the group?

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How do we increase attendance and reenergize the group?

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Maybe more advance notice for guest speakers

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Collab with Network Data User Group

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Who might we engage for guest speakers in November? 

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Who might we engage for guest speakers in November? 

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Could we have a theme for Nov and Dec?

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How do we want to gain input from the full group? 

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How do we want to gain input from the full group? 

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How might we get producers/growers in space to present?

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How might we get producers/growers in space to present?

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Asset Mapping in the group (continually build) ?

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Asset Mapping in the group (continually build) ?