Institutional Food Market Coalition

For information on local sourcing for large volume buyers and Wisconsin producers

Get your local produce now!

You can source local in 2010! Contact IFM to find a distributor, produce auction, or farmer that has fresh, tasty, Wisconsin produce. Read more about how to buy local.


apples strawberries potatoes squash

Buy local produce from a new Wisconsin auction!

Take a tour of the Tri-County Produce Auction with IFM! The next tour is on September 1, 2010. Contact IFM for details and RSVP by August 25. Read about them in their brochure.

Source local food online through Local Dirt

Find Wisconsin local foods through the website LocalDirt.com. The site allows you to make a tailored search, including location, product, delivery, and insurance options! Their website was just named a top site of 2010 by the technology reviewers at PCMag. Congratulations!

New Wisconsin Farm to School Act

Read about this new law, passed in May 2010, that encourages Wisconsin schools to purchase local food!


The Institutional Food Market Coalition (IFM) works to identify and solve obstacles to local sourcing in order to increase the sales of local Wisconsin food into institutional markets. We conduct systematic outreach to institutional buyers, producers, and distributors, in order to connect key stakeholders in the supply chain. Institutional buyers include hospitals, hotels, conference centers, correctional facilities, retirement communities, private corporations, and others.

Find local foods with Something Special – Wisconsin’s brand!

Find Wisconsin local food producers through Something Special from Wisconsin. Buy meat, dairy, produce, and more. You can also join their program for access to fantastic marketing materials to promote your institution’s local foods program.

Watch IFM on TV!

The Institutional Food Market Coalition and Local Dirt were featured on “For the Record” on June 20, 2010! Watch the clip.

Institutional buyers are choosing locally grown for many reasons, including:

  • Competitive pricing
  • Tastier, more nutritious food
  • Local sales support WI family farms and rural communities
  • Local sourcing helps to reduce air pollution by decreasing the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from farm to table
  • One to Four - Buying locally contributes to economic development. For every one dollar spent on locally grown WI products, it is estimated that four dollars stay locally, creating a significant multiplier effect. An increase in institutional demand = increase in demand for inputs such as fertilizer, seed, labor, transportation services, equipment and machinery, insurance and marketing services, etc…