Kitchen Sync Strategies

It's grow time here Kitchen Sync- and we're expanding our work in the Midwest. KSS is #hiring! We're seeking a skilled salesperson to help our food hub and small farm clients in #Iowa to accelerate the #farmtoschool and #farmtoinstitution work we are advancing there. Full-time $65-$69k starting salary with full benefits (health, vision, dental, life insurances + 401k) Come work with engaging, committed, and impactful people! Full job description here: https://lnkd.in/eTdv-xcf #localfoodsystems #foodhubs #foodhubnetworks #sales #valuechaincoordination

We've been quiet over here at Kitchen Sync... but we've been busy! So busy, in fact, that our team needs to grow... ***So, we are hiring for a Regional Food Sales Lead in Oregon!*** Full-time with starting salary range of $68k- $73k Full (generous!) health benefits and 401k (with climate conscious portfolios) *Must* be based in Oregon Focus is on selling local food from small/mid-sized producers and food hubs to institutions Get to work with literally the COOLEST partners out there (we promise) Apply by November 22nd! See the full posting here: https://lnkd.in/gnYbKPdg

Last week we had the immense pleasure of mind-melding and brainstorming with leaders from the Islands and "Remote" Areas Regional Food Business Center in Homer, AK. We've been working with these visionaries and value chain coordination practitioners from #guam, #puertorico, #usvi, #hawaii, #alaska, #CNMI, and #americansamoa to launch undoubtedly the most awe-inspiring and RFBC out there. Together we talked about opportunities for preserving culture, scaling food hubs in island contexts, ensuring USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service and state/territorial governments *really* understand the meaning of 'local food' in these place, and even the troubled histories of US colonialism and militarization. Ultimately, we remembered how small farmers in these places who are on the literal front lines of climate change and extractive globalized capitalism hold tight to such important truths: that we all belong to each other and we all belong to the land. We call it #belonging, but use other words if you must- just remember that by truly sharing (information, risks, and yes profits) in the good food movement we can make sure that local food economies nourish us and the land for generations to come.

Hi Community! Team Kitchen Sync is looking for some accounting help! We are seeking support with our bookkeeping AND a CPA who has experience with small businesses. Anyone in your network do those things?? Please connect, if so! Email us directly or follow up here, and big time thanks in advance!

Here at Kitchen Sync, we often say "we work for producers but we work *with* a lot of folks". We always relish the opportunity to visit with our friends who are running food hub businesses, and we understand they fill a role as critical infrastructure in their regional food systems. Food hubs *are* the direct connection to the farmers, ranchers, and food-makers that Kitchen Sync relies on, and we celebrate their hard-earned, passion-driven, systems-changing work. Last week, we got to visit with some friends from the Iowa Food Hub in Decorah, IA, and we toured their small-but-mighty food hub facility to talk about how to support Iowa's food hub systems. Leaders like Iowa Valley RC&D have been coordinating a network of food hubs across the state for years, groups like Practical Farmers of Iowa have provided key TA and support to farmers statewide, and institutions like Iowa State University Extension and Outreach - Agriculture and Natural Resources and the inimitable Teresa Wiemerslage are keystone players that support these local food aggregators to scale. We are honored to put our shoulder behind the plow they've all been guiding for years!

As brokers supporting #foodhubs nationwide, we find ourselves having the privilege of building close relationships with some innovative, consistent, and thoughtful leaders in foodservice, especially in schools. One of our favorite- and most dedicated- school food leaders is Aaron Smith at Seattle Public Schools. Kitchen Sync Strategies has helped Aaron bring pallets and pallets of sustainable, freshly harvested, impactful food to Washington's largest K-12 school district through our client #NWFoodHubNetwork, and his vision and *awesome* team has turned it into delicious meals for youth across Seattle. And recently, International Foodservice Manufacturers Association - IFMA noticed his commitment and honored him for his leadership- check it out! https://lnkd.in/gHR6MGuw #farmtoschool #localprocurement #feedthekidsgoodfood

The Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative is *thrilled* to be gearing up to provide 8 rock star school food partnerships across the US with specialized Technical Assistance through the PLANTS grant, a program of the Chef Ann Foundation. We've been working with the visionaries at CAF, National Farm to School Network, and Center for Nutrition and Health Impact (formerly Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition) to design a multi-year program using USDA Food & Nutrition Services funding, and we are all joining forces to make sure K-12 school food is good for kids, communities, and local farm and food businesses. The Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative is made up of Kitchen Sync Strategies and our close friends SupplyChange LLC and Shared Plate Strategies. Together, we're bringing a value chain lens to this work so that we don't lose track of the farm in farm-to-school. :-) Stay tuned for more! #farmtoschool #valuechaincoordination #localfood

We were (and are!) proud to support our food hub partners and their producer networks to access large market opportunities like the USDA's Local Food For Schools initiative. Big Federal programs can be downright overwhelming in their scale, but by using #valuechaincoordination strategies and focusing on finding the right 'fit' for seller and buyer alike, we make institutions easy to access for small, local farms and we make local procurement easy for institutions (in this case, the State of Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction!). In 2023, we secured over $500k in sales for the #NorthwestFoodHubNetwork through this program, and because our producers are rockstars and grow delicious, nourishing food, the orders have kept up well beyond the LFS funds being spent. https://lnkd.in/gGk_9TiM #FoodHubNetworks #localfoodeconomies #farmtoinstitution

Since the program was announced almost a year ago, we have been pouring ourselves into the #RegionalFoodBusinessCenter initiative of USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service. This program is a once-in-a-lifetime investment in small- and mid-sized farm and food businesses, and we are working hard to support the inimitable team behind the Island and Remote Areas RFBC. Over the past 2 months, our team has been supporting the local partners in #Alaska, #Guam, #CNMI, #Hawaii, #AmericanSamoa, #PuertoRico, and #USVirginIslands to document the sometimes harsh realities of their food systems. Our key partners are often in sociopolitical limbo as overseas US Territories and are regularly overlooked (or downright forgotten) by Federal agencies. Communities in this non-contiguous region share some significant challenges: they are on the frontlines of climate change and rising sea levels, they have complicated (and often brutal) histories of colonization by the US Government and others, and they are all too often left on their own when disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, and global pandemics hit. But they also share a profound spirit of joy, of community, and of resilience. Very much despite shortcomings and harm caused by US occupation leaders in these disparate areas always seem to carry a felt sense that- at home- they *belong*. When you are in relationship with your food and farmers, you build strength. We're carrying some of that feeling with us through the week, and we invite you to explore how you're building belonging through your work, too! #belonging #communityfoodwebs #valuechains

What are your biggest hopes and fears for the future of regionalized food economies? Last week, Team Kitchen Sync gathered in Spokane, WA to join the #NWFoodHubNetwork for our annual summit. We talked about the future of food hub networks, the challenges facing #farmtoschool, the opportunities in #farmtoinstitution, and the unique role we play as #brokers for #foodhubs. While we have the momentum of major investments in the middle of the Food and Ag value chains from partners like USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Montana Office of Public Instruction, we know there is much work to be done before the farmers we work for are supported and stable. #valuechaincoordination #foodhub #localfood