Are you looking to sell with Coastal Foodshed?
Coastal Foodshed works with over 40 local farmers and food producers across the Southcoast. We take care of the marketing, distribution, and sale of local food so Southcoast farmers can focus on growing their businesses and growing more food. While huge, industrial food producers have access to a full supply chain of marketing professionals, distributors, and large grocery retailers, small farms do all of this work themselves, taking up their limited time and resources. According to the Massachusetts Department of Land Use and Management, around 55 percent of Massachusetts farms make less than $10,000 in annual sales.
Preserving environmental benefits
Massachusetts farms help preserve and maintain prime farmland, land deemed to have the best characteristics for farming. These agricultural spaces also contain landscapes and habitats vital to the local environment. But 14 percent of the state’s farmland has been lost to development in the past thirty years. The risk of repurposing farmland is strong since the farms in Massachusetts have the country’s highest development value.
Strengthening the fabric of community
Farmland makes up 20 percent of the Massachusetts landscape. The familiar images of Massachusetts farmland are interwoven with the memories and history of our state. Recent adversity has demonstrated how local farmers support our communities. When globalized supply chains falter, it is the small farm owners who are able to quickly adapt to meet their customers’ needs.