Get Involved

Whether you’re a parent, student, farmer, food service professional -- or you work for a business or community organization -- you can help get healthy local foods on the plates of all eaters, get to know New York farmers, and learn with gardens and tastings. Find a Farm to Institution partner! 

How You Can Join the Farm to Institution Movement

  • Stay up to date with farm to institution news and updates
  • Follow FINYS on Facebook and Twitter 
  • Start a farm to institution or buy-local initiative in your school and community
  • Connect with partners in your region to collaborate on projects, host workshops and grower-buyer meet-up's, and advocate for policies that help institutions purchase from local farmers.

How to Get Started

For Farmers: If you’re a farmer looking to grow your business, connecting with institutional buyers can create new market opportunities that may improve income stability and extend seasonal demand.

Read More

For Institutions: Buying locally helps ensure that the food you serve is fresh, tasty and trustworthy. Developing partnerships with farmers, processors and distributors can help provide a steady supply of local ingredients for the meals you serve.

Read More

For Processors & Distributors: Those who process, pack and deliver food are a vital part of the farm to institution value chain. Develop relationships with local farms and broaden your New York-grown product offerings to become a valued vendor for institutions who are looking to buy New York products.

Read More

For Community Organizations, Individuals, Families and Students: Your demand for fresh, locally-grown food spurs the success of farm to institution programs in New York State. Offer to work with the schools, colleges, hospitals, senior centers and other institutions in your community to educate their eaters and encourage their food service directors to purchase from local farms.

Read More

Find Regional Partners

This list offers Farm to Institution contacts across New York State organized by Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) regions. FINYS encourages participation  in the REDC planning process to spur investment in the agricultural and food business infrastructure that form the building blocks of regional food systems. Find your REDC here. 

Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest New York maintains a list of farm to school contacts throughout the state. View the list and other Harvest New York resources here. 

If you would like to be a contact for Farm to Institution in your region, please contact us at [email protected]

For those interested in Farm to College, a good place to start on campus is by connecting with Sustainability Programs. View the member list for the New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education. 

Western NY: Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany

Finger Lakes: Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario, Yates, Seneca

Central New York: Cayuga, Oswego, Onondaga, Madison, Cortland

Southern Tier: Steuben, Schuyler, Tompkins, Chemung, Tioga, Broome, Chenango, Delaware

North Country: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence

Mohawk Valley: Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Otsego, Schoharie

Capital Region: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Washington

Mid-Hudson: Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester

New York City: Bronx, New York, Queens, Kings, Richmond

Long Island: Nassau, Suffolk