Procurement
The Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act (Act) was enacted in 2017 and amended in 2019 to create, strengthen, and expand local farm and food economies throughout the state. The Act requires institutions to set a goal of at least 20% of their purchase of food products to be spent on local food. It also requires institutions to complete a reporting form, created by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, on their local food procurement budget on a yearly basis.
The Arkansas Legislature defines local food as food products that are grown in Arkansas and/or packaged and processed in Arkansas. This definition comes from the Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act and the Farm to School and Early Childhood Education Program.
To learn more, click the button below.
Schools, early care and education facilities, and alternative learning environments have the opportunity to serve local foods to students as part of their farm to school program. Local foods can be served in the classroom, cafeteria, or other locations depending on the structure of the learning environment.
To learn more, click the button below.
Interested in selling to state agencies and schools, but don’t know where to start?
The Procurement Technical Assistance Center at the University of Arkansas offers training for free.
PTAC has offices around the state and they offer webinars and trainings online.
To learn more, click the button below.