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Whole Foods Market disbursed first of $10 million yearly in local producer loans.
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over 3 years ago about Whole Foods Market
South Florida beekeeper David Rukin is the first recipient of a low interest rate, long-term loan from Whole Foods Market as part of a company-wide initiative supporting local agriculture and food producers. Rukin is participating in Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program, which will provide $10 million annually in loans to promote local agriculture in areas where it has stores.
Rukin will utilize the funds to buy equipment and supplies to add crystallized honey to his product line. At rates of five to nine percent, the interest rates currently offered through Whole Foods Market’s pilot program to small agricultural producers are lower than those they would generally receive from a bank. The program has other attributes geared to small producers: minimized loan application paperwork, low administrative fees ranging from $0 to $65; no penalties for early payment; and loan life from a few months to ten years.
The Local Producer Loan Program is part of Whole Foods Market’s renewed commitment to local agriculture. This includes hosting farmers markets at stand-alone stores, refocusing in-store marketing to highlight locally-produced products, and hiring regional staff focused specifically on sourcing local products.
“Whole Foods Market’s intention is to support local agriculture all over the United States,” said John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. “We are going to ‘walk our talk’ with financial support for farmers and other producers in close proximity to our stores. We believe this financial assistance of $10 million a year can make a very significant difference in helping local agriculture grow and flourish across the United States.”
Why this matters: Small producers, especially in niche markets, often find it difficult to obtain additional working capital to expand their businesses. Small farmers transitioning their operations to organic have a three year waiting period BEFORE they can begin the paperwork to have their produce or farm commodities certified as organic. During the waiting period, they cannot market their products at the preferential prices that organic often commands, yet their yields may be slightly lower. These producers often have limited access to the USDA/FSA guarunteed and direct loans for small operators. With lowered barriers to obtain working capital, these producers can expand their operations or product lines, develop new products, and provide customers with additional healthy, local products.
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Comments
Now expand to this to ALL food producers in So CA & Central CA alone.
Major need for.
NO other chain will.
Bravo, Bravo.
Should boost stock prices some.
posted by skyking over 3 years ago
I read “The Omnivores Dilemma” a few weeks back and the author wrote a lot about sustainable agriculture and the overall economy of our industrial food system. It was an interesting book, but one of his comments that I disagreed with was that industrial organic was struggling in the face of dramatic growth and the need for mass market distribution.
I believe the market corrects itself and finds creative and nimble ways to deliver what customers desire. As this Whole Foods representative points out, Whole Foods is making a sincere attempt to reach out to local agriculture and promote small sustainable farms and local economies.
While 10 million dollars is rather insignificant in the face of the One Trillion dollar a year agribusiness industry it is a statement by Whole Foods that most other companies aren’t even attempting to make. The 5.6B a year retailer of “specialty foods” has done an amazing job creating an environment in which consumers feel good about the purchases they make because in fact they are helping to improve the well being of the land organic farmer use. Millions of tons of chemicals that would have been used to produce lettuce in the regular industrial system have been averted by Whole Foods and Costco’s push for organic lettuce in their stores.
I think it is admirable that Whole Foods would make a statement by helping local agriculture and I applaud the efforts of companies like Whole Foods, which are working to both make a profit and a difference at the same time.
posted by shaunp over 3 years ago
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Thanks for doin’ the right thing… spreading good news on do-gooders doin’ good! :0)
~Lauren
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posted by LaurenS over 2 years ago