Since 2013, REAP has been purchasing wholesale produce from local farmers for the Madison Metropolitan School Districts Fresh Fruits & Vegetable Program (FFVP) throughout the school year. We typically order around 650 lbs of a fresh, season fruit or vegetable each week, process it into bite size pieces for the students, and it's distributed directly to classrooms across the district. 

Through our work in the schools and with other area institutions, like UW-Madison and the UW Hospital System, we know about the challenges these big institutional buyers have in sourcing fresh local produce from smaller farms. Identifying the right farm partners, navigating the challenges of food safety requirements, volumes and delivery windows, and all of the new pandemic-related issues around labor and uncertain supply chains, all make it difficult for food service operations to prioritize buying local right now.

With REAP Wholesale Marketplace we hope to lower some of those barriers. We're hoping to present a group of farmers who are established and ready to sell to institutions, with easy communications tools and a transparent and easy to navigate purchasing portal. 

Institutions can place Purchase Orders (POs) with multiple farmers at the same time, saving time, and getting the volumes they need.