Announced in February, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) said it would invest $2 million to launch the Open Market Consortium (OMC), which is a multi-organization collaboration aiming to minimize food system supply disruptions.
OMC will be led by the AgLaunch Initiative with supporting members including Mississippi State University, The Seam, Tennessee State University and the Wallace Center at Winrock International. Additionally, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture is providing matching funds for a $4 million total investment.
OMC will develop and pilot an open-source, public-access blockchain system. It will focus on connecting small and mid-size specialty crop farmers farmers to institutional buyers. The OMC founders note how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the food supply chain to adapt in the short-term as well as it has brought longer-term effects.
“The coronavirus is training a spotlight on the importance of our nations’ farmers, an unseen workforce that keeps us nourished, and the significance of food and agriculture supply chains. In both good times and in times of crisis, this new technology can connect small and mid-size farmers with local institutions to keep food moving from farm to plate,” FFAR Executive Director Dr. Sally Rockey said in a news release.
The pilot has a goal to provides tools to ensure flexibility in the food supply chain to results in economic security for farmers and food security for consumers.
“OMC addresses the needs of farmers for a traceable and secure supply back-end system for diverse agricultural crops, while bringing more pricing transparency to attributes related to nutrition, taste, origin or other characteristics,” AgLaunch Executive Director Pete Nelson said in a news release.
The AgLaunch farmer network is piloting a prototype program for the next two years. The OMC research and platform is powered by The Seam.
