Let’s learn more about Common Market from their National Partnerships Director, Rachel Terry.
Tell us about your vision and mission!
We support small and midsize farmers to build a resilient and sustainable business model in their communities. By selling fresh, healthy foods to community institutions, we can increase access, improve food security and strengthen regional food systems.
How does the partnership with Morrison Healthcare work to support building sustainable connections?
We have worked with Morrison Healthcare from the onset, essentially. The Common Market is differentiated in that our strategy is centered around how to get the most food into the communities, hospitals, and public schools while feeding our most vulnerable populations. Morrison serves thousands of meals in the healthcare setting each day—-which fits squarely within the mission of building health equity. We are fortunate to have been able to work alongside them, as we forecast the commitments together and build an equitable food system.
How does Morrison Healthcare work within this forecasting framework to support producers? <
Morrison chefs communicate their purchasing commitments in advance, allowing these producers to make appropriate investments into their operations and grow with minimized risk, supporting The Common Market to onboard even more producers of color and to be involved in a forward commitment schedule. This has created a positive impact for our farmers in the southeast, with Morrison being at the forefront of the journey.
How does forecasting work?
In our southeast hub, we work with more producers of color, who face additional challenges in accessing wholesale markets. Because of inequity, these producers are not in the same position to thrive as their counterparts. We began working to plan, generate forward commitments, so they had a market AHEAD of the growing season.
What does success look like?
Supporting a farm that has never worked with a community institution, seeing that food make it into the community—-while creating a meaningful revenue opportunity for farmers—- this is a win for everyone. The impact is real, it’s tangible, and it matters.
Partnerships that Matter: 
Morrison Healthcare supported 37 farmers and producers in our Southeast network alone in 2024, Coastal and Cornucopia represent the second and fifth most supported farms in that list respectively.
Morrison Healthcare in 2024 supported an economic investment of $353,000 in local food economies, with $135k or 38% going to minority vendors. That reflects 23 producers of color across our Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Note: minority could include black, asian, hispanic, and indigenous growers.
These farms have grown the following beautiful, high-quality produce just for Morrison Healthcare accounts:
- Coastal Georgia = Fresh whole bunched Collards, chopped, bagged collards, yellow squash, zucchini
- Cornucopia = Green leaf, red leaf, and romaine lettuces
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The Common Market is a nonprofit regional food distributor on a mission to connect urban communities with local food from sustainable family farms. By selling fresh, healthy food to community institutions, creating a supply chain for farmers and ranchers, and providing avenues for values-aligned wholesale food procurement, The Common Market guides their partners to see the full value of the food and its impact on the health of their people, community and environment.
