Summer 2014 BMSP Program Impact

A third of the respondents from the Mid-Season Survey indicated that the aspect of the program they know the least about is our overall impact as a program. As a team, we wanted to highlight this season’s impact and share some of our favorite types of numbers.

This summer we have 240 shareholders. By the tenth week of the season, we will have filled 2,400 bags of groceries. To make this possible, shareholders invested $60,000 in BMSP for the entire summer! And by the end of the summer we will have spent 94% of that directly in the local food economy ($56,400). Crossroads Resources Center estimates that local food spending in agricultural communities has 2.6 times the impact of the original purchase. This is because spending within a local food system means your dollars are recycling through the community more times than if we were investing in far away companies. Local farmers tend to buy supplies and equipment locally and employ local people as labor. By this estimate, our impact on the RI Food System for the summer is $135,840!

Our Subsidized Program is designed to make fresh, local produce accessible to all members of the Brown community. Through this program, we offer lower-cost shares, which are divided into “low-” and “middle-“ cost categories. Thanks to our internal cross-subsidization and in-kind donations upwards of $350, we accepted every subsidized applicant who applied – a first for a summer season – totaling 71 subsidized shareholders.

We are working hard to engage a wide scope of farmers and farms in our purchasing. A new purchasing relationship with Christina from Blue Skys Farm resulted in the beautiful and delicious herbs last week. We also reestablished partnerships with Sianna at Rosasharn Farm and Chang from Pak Express, reintroducing two female farm operators into the BMSP community (look for Chang’s cabbage this week). Lastly, we started an internship program to continue to find ways for students to become more involved with BMSP and take ownership over new projects. Maddy Rotman is doing an exceptional job and working hard on “Humans of Market Shares.”

This is just a taste of some of the ways the BMSP Team evaluates our impact as a program. I highly encourage you to talk to any coordinator at Market Day if you have more questions, send us an email at info@brownmarketshares.com, and take the time the read our book!

Looking forward to the rest of the season,

Taylor Lanzet
Program Development Coordinator