Farm to School

Reporting

At any time, Royal can generate reports to show the pounds of local produce purchased, such as fill rates, local produce organized by grades K-5/6-7/8-12, shortages, inventory, credits, off-day deliveries, etc. We are providing you with a variety of example reports to review.

Farm Bios

Everybody likes knowing the people who grow their food! We offer to our customers access to a growing set of bios written about our local farms. We are providing example farm bios for Coggins Farms, Jaemor Farms, Nix Farms, Pero Family Farms, W.P. Rawls, Southern Valley, Stone Creek Hydroponics, and Williams Farms.

Locally Grown Produce Lists and Charts

The Local List is a weekly list of locally available produce that highlights peak-of-season items, provides item codes, local farm names and locations as well as pre-cut processed local produce items. This is level of valuable information you can expect from other lists and availability charts we provide to guide your buying decisions.

Farm and Market Conditions        

We regularly publish on the web and send out through email and social networks the latest conditions of local, west coast and offshore produce.

Recall Alerts

Whenever there are food safety issues and recalls, we proactively notify our customers whether or not we purchased or handled the product indicated. Customers are contacted and/or notified by email usually within three hours of communication with us from food safety agencies.

Greener Fields Together

Greener Fields Together (GFT) provides our customers in all market segments commercial and noncommercial with a distinct advantage in quality, value, local product sourcing and safety while promoting and encouraging sustainability improvements at all levels of the produce industry.
What is Greener Fields Together?

Greener Fields Together is a sustainability program for the entire produce value chain. It was created and is administered by PRO*ACT and will be run by PRO*ACT and its national network of independently-owned local purveyors. As a formalized, stand-alone program, Greener Fields Together engages and involves farmers, distributors, foodservice operators and retail locations in efforts to work toward safer produce from seed to fork.

What are the goals?

Greener Fields Together has two primary goals:

1. To implement sustainability practices that will improve environmental impact
2. To ensure the availability and safety of produce for foodservice and retail partners in all industry segments
   

Who are the participants in Greener Fields Together?

Greener Fields Together is a program for all supply chain partners, including local, regional and national farmers, PRO*ACT distributors, commercial and noncommercial foodservice customers and retail locations.

How does Greener Fields Together define "sustainability" and "continuous process improvement?"

"Sustainability" is managing the growing, handling and distribution of produce to ensure a long-lived, healthy and safe supply of products without causing severe or irreversible damage to the planet and its population. "Continuous process improvement" means pledging to examine impact areas and make improvements when and where possible. We recognize that success is dependent on sequencing efforts so that they optimize business performance while minimizing environmental and social impact. Every effort will be made to ensure that our partner's sustainability journeys are substantive and transparent.

How will participation be measured?

Program participants will be audited and monitored for ongoing, measurable sustainability improvements. This includes, but is not limited to, increased local produce purchases; food safety standards and conservation of resources throughout the fresh produce supply chain.

What about national farm operations?

Greener Fields Together engages national farmers and processors in examining in their growing, harvest and post-harvest activities. To support and encourage environmentally friendly improvements, we will regularly publicize strides made by national farmers and processors within the Greener Fields Together partnership.

What about local farms?

Greener Fields Together supports local farmers by providing Good Agricultural Practices training and food safety audit assistance. This will allow them to bridge the gap that exists in accessing the wholesale marketplace.

How are restaurants, other foodservice operators and retail locations involved?

Greener Fields Together program supporters who adopt and implement sustainability improvements may be licensed to utilize and display the Greener Fields Together seal as a tool to communicate their commitment to sustainability and to local produce.

Why was Greener Fields Together created?

In the plainest terms; It's the right thing to do. We and our partners have created a sustainability and food safety initiative that encompasses the entire produce supply chain, from national farms and processors, to small local farms, to distributors and foodservice operators. Our mission is to foster continuous process improvement by all parties so that produce is handled in the most sustainable, safe and environmentally friendly manner from seed to fork.

Our Local and GFT Compliant Farms

Royal was one of the first produce distributors to introduce locally-grown produce to Georgia area customers. Customers get access to farm bios for each of our local farms and suppliers of specialty products. We provide a variety of weekly, monthly and quarterly lists and fliers featuring currently available and stocked items from farms in Georgia and surrounding states. Approximately 20 of our farms are in compliance with higher sustainable agriculture standards defined by our Greener Fields Together program. Learn more at www.greenerfieldstogether.org.

 

Cultivating Change: A GFT Grant Program for Local Farms

We believe in local farming and we believe that supporting growers in our communities is the best way to ensure a future for food. Cultivating Change, the Greener Fields Together local farm grant program, aims to fund projects or pursuits that will help local farmers do what they're best at: farming.

Grant amounts range from $3,000-$10,000 and will be funded on an annual basis to qualifying growers through an online voting platform and peer review panel.

Grant Categories:

• Certifications: Organic, Non-GMO, Biodynamic, Fair Trade, Food Safety
• Infrastructure: Reusable Plastic Containers(RPC's), Delivery Vans, Reefer Trucks, Equipment
• Capacity Building: Food Safety/GAP Improvements, Continuing Education
• Marketing / Communications: Upgrade Labels/Cartons, Marketing Materials, Website/Social Media Support

2015 Cultivating Change Grant Award Winners

Jaemor Farms, whose products are distributed by Royal Food Service, was the top winner among some 30 farms nationwide, and was awarded $13,000 to help them achieve their food safety program goals. Stone Creek Hydroponics, whose products are also distributed by Royal Food Service, was awarded $3,000 to help them to build additional packing facilities.

 

Local Farms Listing

With more than 21 years in the foodservice industry, Royal Food Service has formed strong relationships with many of the local farms within and outside our service area including all of Georgia and surrounding states.

Allison's Honey
AtlantaFresh Cream
B&W Quality Produce
Back to Basics 101
Barrett Produce
BBI Berry Boss
Bland Farms
Calhoun Produce
Carter & Sons
Chipico
City Greens
Coosaw Farms
Crestola Farms
DiMare Fresh
Dixie Farms
DNE
Durbin Farms
Fitzgerald Fruit Farms
Five Brothers
Flat Creek Lodge
Flavor First
Florida Classic
FreshLink
Generation Farms
Goodson Farms
HC Schmeiding
Henderson Produce
Hillside Gardens
Hillside Orchards
Hinton Farms
Hudson River Farms
Hugh H. Branch
Int'l Specialty Supply
J&S Produce
Jaemor Farms
L&M Farms
L&R / Lathem Farms
LG Herndon Farms
Lane Southern Orch
Leger & Son
Little River Farms
Long & Scott Farms
Mercier Orchards
Milkco
Moore Farms
Natalie's Orchid Island
Nix Fruit Co.
Parker Farms
Patrick Farms
Patterson Farms
Paulk Vineyards
Pearson Farm
Pero Family Farms
Pexco Produce Farms
Pioneer Growers
Plantation Sweets
Processor's Co-op
Riverview Farms
Scott Farms
Southeast Growers
Southern Grace Farms
Southern Press/Pack
Southern Valley
Soy Shop
Spring Hill Farms
StoneCreek Hydro
Strawberry Hill
Sweet Grass Dairy
Sweetwater Growers
Taylor Family Farms
Titan Farms
Torbert Produce
WP Rawl
Wayne Bailey Produce
West Coast Mush
Western Carolina Prod
Wilkinson-Cooper
Williams Farms
Wish Farms

 

Locally Grown Produce

The following bar chart shows a combined school district's locally-grown produce purchased during a period from August 2015 to April 2016. Amounts are shown in pounds. 53% of produce sold was from local farms.

Produce Sold in Pounds

8/3/15 to 4/5/16

 

Royal: A Local Food Hub

Royal Food Service is currently listed by the USDA as a local food hub in the Atlanta area.

The USDA Food Hub Directory lists businesses or organizations that actively manage the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products to multiple buyers from multiple producers, primarily local and regional producers, to strengthen the ability of these producers to satisfy local and regional wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.