This section of the guide walks you through general requirements for food producers and businesses to sell to public and private institutions. Sections cover food safety, volume and packing requirements, and certifying your business as a Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprise.
The United States Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is a federal regulation that affects how food is grown, packed, processed, shipped, and imported into the United States. For food producers and businesses who are looking to sell beyond direct-to-consumer markets, it’s important to understand how FSMA rules and guidelines may impact your operation. FSMA requires the food industry to systematically put measures in place that are proven effective in preventing contamination and the spread of foodborne illness. FSMA's standards emphasize:
Preventative Controls for Human Food: Establishes requirements for a written food safety plan, hazard analysis, preventive controls, monitoring, corrective actions, and verification.
Produce Safety Standards: Establishes science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption.
Sanitary Transport of Food and Feed: Requires those who transport food to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of that food. This rule is intended to help maintain both human and animal food safety during transportation by establishing criteria for vehicle and transportation equipment conditions, as well as practices, training, and record keeping.
Courtesy of Stef Funk
Remember: All farms are responsible for the safety of the produce they grow and sell. Depending on size and type of market channel, some fruit and vegetable growers may be subject to inspection and must show proof of adherence to the requirements in the produce safety rule.
The Produce Safety Alliance was established to help prepare fresh produce growers to meet the regulatory requirements included in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. The PSA is supported through a cooperative agreement funded by the USDA and the FDA.
An on-farm food safety plan is not required in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule. However, writing a comprehensive food safety plan is included in the PSA curriculum because growers lifted this up as a critical need. Writing a food safety plan is considered a best practice, and many growers also need a written farm food safety plan to meet third-party food safety certification requirements. Find more resources on writing a food safety plan for your farm on the PSA resource page.
In order to sell meat or poultry products to an institution, state and federal guidelines require that meat is processed in a USDA licensed facility. If you are raising livestock for wholesale or institutional sales, find the nearest USDA licensed facility on the US Food Safety and Inspection Service website.
For more information on Meat & Poultry Inspection in Illinois, visit the IL Department of Agriculture’s Meat & Poultry Inspection website.
This “Selling Meat in Illinois” factsheet from the University of IL Extension’s Local Food and Small Farms Team is also a helpful resource on the different types of licenses and permits needed by different stakeholders in order to sell meat to different market channels.
While there are no uniform guidelines, processing facilities typically expect that animals come in as clean as possible, with no visible mud or manure caked to their hides, and be free of disease or injury.
While there are no explicit federal food safety guidelines on “pre-harvest” handling of livestock, the US Food Safety and Inspection Service provides guidance and recommendations. To learn more about limiting E.coli and salmonella for livestock producers, see page 17 of this Industry Guideline for Minimizing the Risk of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Beef (including Veal) Slaughter Operations.
In addition to considering the requirements set for growers by the Food Safety Modernization Act and other state and federal regulations, many farmers that are considering wholesale and institutional markets will need to explore a third-party food safety audit, which is typically required by distributors and buyers.
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) are audits for specialty crop growers that verify that fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops are produced, packed, handled, and stored to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards. The majority of processors and food distributors require their specialty crop growers to have GAP/GHP audits annually, although some prefer other food safety audit programs (described below).
GAP & GHP audits verify adherence to the recommendations made in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (pdf) and industry recognized food safety practices.
To learn more about GAP and GHP certification, please visit the USDA’s website.
Group GAP is a USDA farm food safety program that provides the entire specialty crops industry the opportunity to supply and buy fruits, vegetables, and related products certified as being produced using Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). By allowing farmers, food hubs, and marketing organizations of all sizes to band together and pool resources to achieve USDA GAP certification, GroupGAP is helping more farmers supply fresh, local produce to retail and institutional markets, and providing buyers and consumers alike with more purchasing and product options.
Benefits for Group GAP participants include:
Saving group members money through cost and resource sharing
Improving group members’ accountability and performance by leveraging shared resources
Decreasing documentation and maintenance requirements of group members who operate under a single Quality Management System
Using internal audits and shared food safety manager(s) to make member compliance easier
Interested in learning more about Group GAP in the Metro Chicago area? Reach out to Advocates for Urban Agriculture’s Group GAP Coordinator, Alexandra Hachem, at alexandra@auachicago.org.
While GAP and GHP are some of the most commonly accepted third-party food safety certifications, there are other food safety audit programs that buyers might require or prefer. Other food safety auditors that certify produce growers include the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Institute’s Food Safety Program, PrimusGFP, and Global G.A.P. Be sure to talk with a prospective buyer about their required food safety certifications at the outset of your relationship-building to ensure that they will accept your certification type.
Because meat is first processed by a USDA-licensed meat processing facility, buyers typically have less food safety requirements for livestock growers directly. However, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service provides different voluntary audits that livestock and poultry producers may be interested in pursuing to differentiate their products and align better with Good Food Standards in GFPP. Audits include the Certified Responsible Antibiotic Use (CRAU), USDA Grass Fed Program for Small and Very Small (SVS) Producers, and One Health Certification. For a full list of the USDA’s auditing services for livestock and poultry producers, please visit their website.
Different industry associations have also developed Quality Assurance Programs for livestock producers to follow. These certifications are voluntary, but may be recommended by certain distributors or purchasers. Examples include the Beef Quality Assurance and Pork Quality Assurance Plus programs.
Courtesy of Stef Funk
Looking for support with obtaining a certification that’s aligned with the Good Food Standards set in Environmental Sustainability, Valued Workforce, or Animal Welfare? There are a lot of helpful resources and communities of practice for growers and food businesses to tap into. To name a few:
A Greener World: Support for livestock producers who are looking to become certified with the Animal Welfare Approved label.
Certified Humane’s Website: Learn about the Certified Humane program and how to join as a meat, poultry, egg, or dairy producer.
Food Animal Concerns Trust: For training and resources on pasture-based livestock best practices, and opportunities to connect with other livestock producers.
Global Animal Partnership: Learn about the Global Animal Partnership certification programs and find resources for beef, poultry, dairy, pork, and egg production.
Demeter Association: Learn about how to become a certified Biodynamic farm.
eOrganic Community of Practice (Extension): Join an online community of farmers and researchers who are exploring ways to sustain organic agricultural systems.
Marine Stewardship Council: Learn about how to become a certified fishery through teh Marine Stewardship Council’s program.
National Center for Appropriate Technology’s ATTRA: A wealth of resources for both producer growers and livestock producers on sustainable farming practices, farm to institution, and food safety.
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education: Resources on sustainable farming practices, searchable by geographic location, content area, and media format type.
USDA Organic: Find more information about becoming a USDA-certified Organic Farm along with how to access technical assistance on the process.
Courtesy of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Agricultural Justice Project: Learn about your farm becoming Food Justice Certified and supporting fair wages and working conditions for farmworkers.
CooperationWorks!: Find a local cooperative developer who can support your efforts to become a worker cooperative.
Democracy at Work Institute: Browse many resources on becoming a worker cooperative business.
Equitable Food Initiative: Learn more about how this certification works to improve conditions for farmworkers.
High Road Restaurants: For restaurants, caterers, and/or meal program providers looking to join a community of practice around providing good jobs and working conditions.
Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance: Learn about trainings, support and networking for aspiring and emerging worker cooperatives in Chicago and across the state.
Pictured are volunteers at Urban Growers Collective farm during a Lettuce Meet/alegría en la granja event hosted by The Chicago Food Policy Action Council, Urban Growers Collective, and Advocates for Urban Agriculture.
Courtesy of ChiFresh Kitchen
At this time, most direct food-related contracting opportunities with the City of Chicago and Cook County are geared toward food service management companies and food distributors (vs individual farmers). The GFPI team is interested in exploring how to increase contracting opportunities that could open up direct relationships between farms and institutions through Farm to Institution Requests for Proposals (RFPs), which other institutions across the country like Minneapolis Public Schools have successfully developed. Chicago and Cook County have not yet developed this opportunity locally, but we will update the online version of this Guide with opportunities as they arise.
If you manage or work for a food hub, food distribution company, or prepared meals/ food service management company, it will be helpful to understand how the City of Chicago and Cook County work with contracted food vendors.
The Chicago Department of Procurement Services has valuable educational resources and regularly hosts trainings for potential vendors. Click here for a description of their trainings and copies of powerpoint presentations.
If you’re interested in becoming a contracted vendor with Cook County, check out their Doing Business with Cook County website to learn the basic information on becoming a registered vendor. The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer also hosts educational workshops and trainings for prospective vendors; reach out to OCPO.Events@cookcountyil.gov to learn more about upcoming opportunities.
The City and County partner on an annual Vendor Fair, where companies looking to do business with public departments and agencies can learn more about the potential opportunities. This event is not particularly focused on food-related opportunities, but can still be a good event to attend and learn more about the procurement process. The 2020 Vendor Fair was hosted completely online and recordings of all sessions can be found here.
Both the City of Chicago and Cook County maintain “Buying Plans” that forecast what goods and services they will be looking for vendors for over the next year. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily easy to search the Buying Plans for food-related solicitations, since there is no one classification or tag that covers all food-related opportunities. GFPI is working with procurement staff to explore how to make it easier for food vendors to find upcoming solicitations and prepare their bid materials. In the meantime, access the City of Chicago Buying Plan here and the Cook County Buying Plan here.
If you are a farmer, food grower, or value-added food business, a potential food contractor may be interested in listing your business as a Subcontractor on a bid for food preparation or distribution services. Listing your farm as a Subcontractor can demonstrate their commitment to GFPP and commitment to working with local food producers, minority-owned firms, women-owned firms, veteran-owned firms, etc. It can increase the likelihood of their company being awarded a contract if they formally list these partnerships in their bid application to the City or County.
For more technical assistance on working with public departments and agencies, or their contracted food vendors, please contact your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) using the Illinois PTAC website. For Chicago-based growers and food businesses, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, North Business & Industrial Council, and Women’s Business Development Center all serve as local PTACs. Find out more information here.
Courtesy of The Common Market
Local food distributors recommend that producers contact a sales or purchasing manager to begin the relationship-building process and set up a vendor account. During this process, suppliers meet with vendors to discuss operation details such as product, volume, pricing, delivery schedules, and availability. This process can often extend for many weeks or months before a producer can become an approved vendor or supplier, so be sure to factor in this time period. Be sure to ask the company’s representative for detailed information on the timeline for approval at the outset of your communications.
Before establishing contract requirements and agreements, most vendors require producers to hold some form of food safety and handling certification (usually USDA GAP certification if you’re a produce grower; see Food Safety section for more details).
Looking to network with food distributors or food service management companies? GFPI is planning to host Buyer/Supplier Networking Mixers to help build relationships across the supply chain in a pre-competitive setting. Join CFPAC’s newsletter to stay up-to-date with upcoming opportunities.
Check out our map of GFPP institutions and their contracted food companies to learn about who the City of Chicago and Cook County partner with on food supply and services.
Courtesy of ChiFresh Kitchen
Packing food products properly is a critical step in selling to indirect market channels. The packaging or boxes you use are the first line of defense against product damage, potential contaminants, and moisture or temperature control.
If you’re planning to sell to institutions through a food distributor, the company may have their own specific requirements for handling post-harvest products and how they are packed into boxes or other packaging. Ensure you have complete clarity, in writing, around product quality standards and what state the product should arrive in to the distributor. It is recommended that you photograph sample boxes of products to document how they looked when leaving your farm.
While not all companies request packaging in the same format, there are some generally recognized “standardized” guidelines around how to pack for indirect markets that may be useful to reference. Check out this Produce Pack Guide from FarmsReach for tips on fruits and vegetables. For a deep dive on all the different types of packaging to consider and helpful packing definitions, this Packaging Requirements for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables from North Carolina State Extension is a great resource.
Minimum volumes required to sell to distributors vary. In 2020, the Cook County Department of Public Health held a series of interviews with local food distributors currently contracted with Cook County agencies to better understand the opportunities for local farmers to work with them, including Midwest Foods, Black Dog Foods, and Cristina Foods. All distributors who were interviewed shared that there is no volume minimum for producers who want to sell to them. However, the details of the agreement are closely dependent on the specific product and the producer’s ability to supply consistently over a period of time; be sure to discuss these terms with distributors up-front.
Courtesy of The Common Market
Most wholesale and institutional buyers require food growers to carry product liability insurance. Product liability insurance helps protect your farm or food business from claims that a product you made or sold caused bodily harm. The exact requirements and amount of insurance vary by the buyer, so be sure to have a discussion with the buyer about their insurance requirements from suppliers. Typically, companies require between $1-5 million in liability insurance.
Where to purchase product liability insurance: Homeowner, renter, or auto insurance companies may offer product liability insurance options. There are also companies that specialize in farm insurance, and may include product liability insurance as part of the sales package. Talk to other farmers, farm organizations, cooperative extension educators, and other agricultural professionals for help on choosing the right policy. When you talk to an insurance agent, explain your farm business in detail and the type and amount of coverage your buyers require. Ask the agent what types of policies are available to protect you and your assets. An agent can also tell you about other types of insurance that covers your property, employees, and crops.
Check out this Insurance Checklist for Institutional Sales from the MarketReady Program at the University of Kentucky Extension for a straight-forward list of considerations when it comes to insurance.
Check out this “Product Liability Insurance FAQ” from the University of Kentucky to better understand the differences between general farm liability insurance, product liability insurance, and product recall insurance.
The City of Chicago, Cook County, and other public entities provide incentives in the contracting process to locally-based companies that are certified as:
Minority-Owned (MBE)
Women-Owned (WBE)
Veteran-Owned (VBE)
Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVBE)
Person with Disability Owned (PDBE- Cook County)/ Business Enterprise Owned or Operated by People with Disabilities (BEPD- City of Chicago)
Disadvantaged Businesses (DBE- City of Chicago)
Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE)
There are also incentives if a prospective food vendor subcontracts with another company that is certified with one of the above certifications, so it may serve as a benefit if your qualified farm or food business becomes certified. The food distributor or food service management company may list you as an official subcontractor on their bid application to help their bid application scoring.
Visit the City of Chicago’s homepage on certification and the Cook County’s homepage on certification to learn more, apply for certification, or search the database of certified businesses in their system.
There are specific eligibility requirements to become certified, including criteria around ownership stake, control, expertise, location of business, and size. Check out this one-pager from the City of Chicago on the basics of certification: who is eligible, the potential benefits, and how to apply.
A fair warning: the certification process requires paperwork, and certifications can also cost money: it costs $250 to become MBE or WBE, and there’s a 5-year renewal process. However, VBE, PDBE, & DBE certifications are free, and if you apply to be certified with these certifications, the fee to become MBE or WBE is waived as well.
A business can become certified via Cook County or the City of Chicago. The two governments recognize each other’s certifications, so you only need to get certified by one entity to use it for doing business with either.
There are a lot of local organizations that are available to help businesses with becoming certified! Assist agencies include the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women’s Business Development Center, and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. For a full list of Assist Agencies working with the City of Chicago, click here.
Courtesy of ChiFresh Kitchen
