What are Food Assistance Provider (FAP) partnerships?

In Montgomery County, food assistance provider partnerships are supported through the collaborative work of organizations across the food access community, sharing information, best practices, and problem-solving together to build a healthier, more resilient food system. The Montgomery County Food Council is one of several convening organizations helping drive this coordination, working alongside supportive funders who recognize that when organizations leverage each other’s skills, experience, and missions, communities are supported more holistically — from increasing access to healthy food to nurturing resilient local food systems.

Why does CFS partner with other Food Assistance Providers (FAPs)?

We recognize that our fellow FAPs can face challenges in accessing local, nutrient-dense food, including:

• A significant amount of time and resources needed to dedicate to coordinating with multiple small farms to source the volume of food they need,
• Lack of cold storage (for both FAPs and the farms), and 
• Aligning the FAP’s pickup and distribution schedule with a farm’s harvest schedule.

How does CFS do this work?

• Market Cards for our Mobile Farm Markets. Some partner organizations provide their families with market cards, pre-loaded with funds, to use to shop at our Mobile Farm Markets.

Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER), for example, provides their families with market cards to shop at our New Hampshire Estates Elementary School Mobile Market.

• Pre-packed Produce Bags.

Through their grantmaking process, the Montgomery County Office of Food Systems Resilience and the Montgomery County Food Council connect FAPs with school partners. We source, pack, and deliver produce bags for these FAP-school partnerships.
We partnered with Rainbow Community Development Center to pack 300 produce bags a month, and we supported MUM and Wheaton High School by packing and delivering 25 produce bags per week.

• Wholesale

For local FAPs and food pantries looking to include fresh produce in their home deliveries and choice pantries, we offer greater volume through our wholesale program.
We emphasize a service that is “right-sized” for FAPs, as we offer culturally relevant produce in appropriate volumes for their needs, in addition to providing individualized services for procurement, cold storage, and pick-up/delivery needs.

Impact:

• We leverage our aggregation and cold storage infrastructure to connect FAPs and small farms in an easy, streamlined process – so as many people as possible have access to nutrient-dense, locally grown produce! In 2025, we sold 31,000 lbs of produce to 7 wholesale partners. 
• Our partnership with CHEER at our New Hampshire Estates Elementary Mobile Farm Market has enrolled over 200 families!
• Systems change: Reshaping our local food system – a key part of our mission – requires major, cumulative shifts in purchasing behavior. We hope that our work with local FAPs and food pantries helps these smaller institutions understand the value of supporting local small farms and the benefits of supplying their communities with nutrient-dense, local produce. When people know why a locally grown tomato costs more – it sustains a local farmer, cuts carbon from the supply chain, and puts more nutrients on the plate – that extra $2 is recognized as a worthwhile investment in our communities.