Rolader says The Common Market is trying to build a regional food system that develops more personal connections between producers and consumers by 'giving farmers a chance to tell their story.'
"Today’s consumers are expecting more from their food, and that means expecting more from the entire food chain. While the majority of food service providers in the institutional marketplace would prefer to offer their patrons fresh, local food, the issue of getting certifiably safe products from independent producers is a major hurdle. For The Common Market Georgia, that’s no longer a problem."
"Based in Atlanta, The Common Market Georgia is the only local food hub in the region to receive the Safe Quality Foods certification and is second only to its flagship The Common Market Mid-Atlantic, which became the first local food hub in the nation to receive the certification in 2016."
“Food touches every part of our lives,” says Georgia director Lily Rolader. “It’s reaching you at the hospital down the road or where you drop your kids off at school. We want to create the infrastructure to make it possible for farmers to move food and make it easy for our customers to get good food.”
The Common Market of Georgia will host the grand opening of its 60,000-square-foot warehouse and 6,500 square foot cooler space 5:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 17 at 1050 Oakleigh Drive in East Point.
"For many [Georgians], their lack of nutrition isn’t a choice, she says; it’s a lack of access to healthy food options."
"Enter The Common Market Georgia, a nonprofit food distributor designed to soften the financial blow small farmers face when getting into the business of selling to wholesalers while giving wholesale customers access to more locally grown food."
Farm Share is a campus initiative that provides locally-sourced fruits and vegetables along with a dozen certified humane eggs. Farm Share is brought to Tech through a non-profit group, The Common Market, and through a partnership with the Georgia Tech Office of Sustainability.
"On the farmer side, we’ve definitely been told that we have better terms for how we pay than most other folks that they’re working with. We actually let farmers set their own prices rather than tell them what we’ll pay for it. On the customer side, it’s interesting for us seeing someone who’s used to getting all their foods from a US Foods, for example, which is a huge broadline distributor, have something go off in their mind like ‘Oh your prices aren’t higher like I thought they would be.’ "
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"What I most appreciate is the consistency of the produce. I have yet to experience wilted lettuce or incorrect sizing of products and this is something difficult to find with the “big box” companies. I also appreciate Common Market's passion for developing relationships between the farmers and the chefs."
— Mike Bacha, Executive Chef, Emory University Hospital