You would be hard pressed to find a more "up-beet" person in the Western New York Food Regional Food System Initiative work than Chris Hartman. Yes, beets are his favorite food because of their underdog status in the food world, but his passion for educating people about the importance of how our food is grown and consumed is infectious.

Chris says he was always interested in teaching but not in a traditional classroom. During his senior year at Vassar College in the Hudson Valley, he landed the only internship he could find doing community-based education and it was at a farm run by three nuns. They allowed him to live there and learn the art of farming alongside them. He graduated, traveled a bit but was drawn right back to that farm to help it grow.

After a few years on the farm, Chris was a newlywed looking to earn a master's degree and start a family with his new wife closer to home in Rochester, NY, all while keeping education and farming his north star. During grad school, he started a farmers market in his neighborhood. On opening day, he hoped for 60 people but 500 showed up. He knew there was an appetite for better understanding where your food came from and access to locally grown food. That led to another project where he created workplace-based delivery of fresh, local grown produce in downtown Rochester and he included local high school students in developing it. All of this eventually led to him starting Headwater, which sources food from over 200 regional family farms and businesses to distribute to individuals, families, chefs and institutional food service throughout New York State. 

Chris' understanding of the interconnectivity of the food system made him an excellent candidate for the Regional Advisory Council (RAC) for Food Future WNY. A 9-county planning effort, led by the SCALE consultant team, to strengthen the region's food system to achieve resilience, equity, strong economic performance, and reduced food insecurity. 

"I knew I wanted to participate in this effort right when I was asked because the SCALE team was made up of some of the most interesting national thinkers right now in the food system space," said Chris. "As I got into the work, I was impressed with the plan and the approach, it was methodical and disciplined and I appreciated that we made some adjustments at the halfway point."

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​Since the 1970s we have been eating our meals away from home more and more.  Although food eaten at restaurants account for a large portion of this, many of us also find our way to cafeterias at a variety of institutions such as K-12 schools, higher education institutions, hospitals or other facilities with food service.  So much so that many now believe that shifting food procurement practices of public and private institutions to include locally and equitably produced food can bring economic, public health, and environmental benefitsto communities (see for example Policy Link, Equitable Development Toolkit – Local Food Procurement​ 2015). 

The movement to increase local food purchasing in K-12 public schools provides a good example how this shift can result in desired impacts. According to the National Farm to School Network kids eat more and a greater variety of fruits and vegetables through farm to school meals and then subsequently by asking for changes at home.  Farmers benefit from an increase in income from farm to school sales, by having of a long-term revenue stream they can build out from, and from market diversification and growth opportunities that stem from success with schools. Communities win through increased public health and positive linkages between schools and communities particularly in low-income communities and communities of color.  Communities also realize economic impacts.  The 2020 study The Benefits of Farm to School, reported finding that each job created by school districts purchasing local foods led to and another 0.27 – 2.35 jobs, and it was found that each dollar invested stimulates $0.60-$2.16 of additional local activity.  
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Buffalo Public School (BPS) district’s efforts to source local and equitably raised food has emerged as a nationally recognized program. During the 2019-2020 school year, BPS F2S spent over $2 million, or just over 41% of its lunch expenditures, on produce, dairy, beef, juice, and other NY raised foods.  But K-12 schools are just one type of institution, there are also colleges and universities, hospitals and other health care facilities, and corrections facilities.  In NYS there are over 270 public and private colleges and universities.  The SUNY system alone comprises 64 campuses and serves over 500,000 students and faculty with annual food purchasing budgets of approximately $150,000,000 (see On the Plate at SUNY: Growing Health, Farms and Jobs with Local Food).  This same study calculated that if SUNY spent 25% of its food buy on fresh and minimally processed NY grown foods, it would create $54 million in economic output for the state.

​Headwater products being picked and packed by Headwaters ​Fulfillment Team at the Headwater Food Hub in Ontario