September 19, 2024 by 4P Foods

4P Foods delivered local food to 644 public schools across Virginia in 2023. There are a host of key benefits schools gain from being able to order food direct from local farmers: kids get access to nutrient-dense food, food travels significantly shorter distances from farm to plate, and it provides economic opportunity for farmers.

Farm to School programs make school meals an opportunity to fuel kids’ curiosity and interest in the local food system! Find out more at 4PFoods.com/wholesale/farm-to-school.

 

“4P Foods is the bridge between us and the local Virginia Farmers. The partnership makes sense for all involved, as they can connect the growers to the schools through purchasing and delivering fresh produce and meats. The items we receive each week are picked from the fields within days of delivery so it’s guaranteed to be fresher, more nutritious – not to mention tastier. We are also helping put dollars back into the local economy,” says Bruce Davis, Prince Edward County Public Schools

 

Connecting farms to schools through food hubs

Founder & CEO of 4P Foods Tom McDougall and 4P Foods Special Programs Manager Devon Byrne are interviewed about the importance Virginia’s Farm to School program and 4P Foods role in that program as a food hub. Watch the video to find out how farms and schools are connected through food hubs.

 

Virginia orchards providing fruit for Virginia Public Schools

Saunders Brothers Orchard is a fourth generation family farm in Piney River, VA. The farm began in 1915 as a cattle farm when 5 brothers decided to pool their resources and form a partnership. With the coming of the Great Depression, money became tight and the brothers discovered that peaches were selling for good prices. Although most were forced to take jobs elsewhere, three brothers maintained the family farm through farm helpers and sharecroppers, pitching in themselves during harvest time.

They grow multiple varieties of peaches, apples, nectarines and Asian pears and are very particular about when each variety is harvested at the peak of ripeness. The clay soil along the hillsides of the Shenandoah make for great flavor and they have specifically tested and chosen fruit varieties that produce the best tasting fruit in their soil.

Saunders Brothers Orchard provided apples to Virginia Public Schools in 4P Foods delivery network for Crunch Day. This is an event during Farm to School Month when Virginia students all over the state take a bite from a Virginia-grown apples at the same time to celebrate local food in school cafeterias.

For Farm to School Month 2023, Marshall Saunders of Saunders Brothers Orchard and 4P Foods Founder and CEO Tom McDougall visited Annandale Terrace Elementary School to talk sourcing locally for school cafeterias with Fairfax County Public School officials and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

 

Partnering with regional processors

Recognizing the need to have shelf stable and processed food available to our customers year round, 4P is building out partnerships with proximate processing plants that can meet our growing scale.

ByWay Foods is part of Working Landscapes, a fellow food hub located in North Carolina. They specialize in making fresh, healthy regional food easy and accessible for agencies, institutions, and cafeterias. Their top-quality line of products includes fresh-cut vegetables like chopped kale, crinkle cut sweet potato fries, or sliced squash. They source transparently from local and regional farms. Their mission is to build more healthy and sustainable lives and livelihoods in the Warren County, NC region through stewardship and our natural and cultural assets.

A partnership with ByWays Foods means 4P Foods can deliver lightly processed vegetables to schools and cafeterias across the region.