Food. How it’s grown or raised, how it tastes, and how it gets to you--that's what's important. With all the food in the markets--how does one keep the information straight? It can be challenging to research it all on your own, so we’ve made it our mission to be your guide. We vet, taste-test, critique, and assess all our products so you don’t have to.
Transparency
We want you to feel confident as our customer and eater. Assured that you’ll receive products of the highest quality. Knowing where your food comes from. Ecstatic that you're voting with your fork and supporting small local farms and makers in a significant way. We will always provide the name and location of an item’s source and its growing standards, no guessing games about it. Farming can be fickle, and occasionally we’ll be required to provide a last-minute substitution. Even then, we’ll let you know where your replacement comes from.
Proximity
We partner primarily with farms within a 300-mile radius of NYC. This shortens the distance and time your food has to travel, and encourages eating seasonally. Making our site the primary destination for all your grocery needs means we can keep supporting local small farms and businesses.
70% of all goods we sell are sourced locally! We do source some popular seasonal items (like winter citrus) and household staples (like bananas or avocados) from farther away. But, no matter what, we are assured the growing practices, animal welfare, and ingredients of our vendors are held to our standards.
Sustainability
We believe farmers should be good stewards of our land. Whether it’s the way a product is grown or raised, then packaged, and the distance it travels, we always advocate for environmentally responsible practices. When it comes to farming, we prioritize regenerative growing standards and partner with farms that encourage biodiversity. We avoid products with excessive and unnecessary packaging and use recycled/compostable materials to ship your order. We stick to local farms and makers as much as possible to cut back on carbon emissions during transit, and manually route our delivery drivers to optimize travel from our warehouse to your door.
Humanity
From the farmers who plant your food to the employees who pack and deliver your boxes, we make sure we’re providing a living wage. We seek partnerships with businesses that treat their workers fairly. 50% of every food dollar we make goes back to the farms. (To put that in perspective, the national average for the grocery industry is 15%.)
The food system is not free from systemic racism and inequality, and we recognize the work we must do to combat these crises. We have made a commitment to work with more BIPOC-owned farms and businesses and are actively employing a diverse staff. But it doesn’t stop there; all of our meat and dairy adheres to strict animal welfare standards. Because we believe humanity should extend to all living things.
Help us build a better food system.
Produce
First, we look for local produce that’s in season and grown using regenerative and sustainable practices. When we can’t find the best certified organic option, we seek produce grown using organic standards or Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an environmentally conscious and humane, low-spray method. Variety is also important--to our diet and our taste buds!--so sometimes, we source items that are in season in other parts of the country. We run the gamut from produce you already know and love to crops that are more unique. Growing a wide variety of seeds promotes soil health and biodiversity, leading to tastier, more nutrient-dense food.
Meat/Dairy/Eggs
All of our meat and dairy products meet strict animal welfare standards. Whenever possible, they are pasture-raised or free-range, grass-fed, and Humane Certified. We avoid CAFOs and vendors that use antibiotics and hormones. You will taste the difference.
Seafood
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch is our guide when sourcing seafood. We only carry products that are considered “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” and make sure to prioritize traceability. All our seafood is Marine Stewardship Council-certified. We steer clear of products with added preservatives or dyes.
Artisanal Goods
Our ever-growing selection of grocery items is not exempt from our sourcing standards. We only support small businesses that use real ingredients (no sketchy additives or fillers). Make Farm to People your go-to site for your weekly food haul with these value-added goods.