Texas Bypass: Local Food Purchasing Program
Connect your farm to buyers, schools, and institutions across Texas. Sell with confidence. Learn the systems. Grow your markets.
The Texas Bypass: Local Food Purchasing Program is a transformative initiative designed to connect local food producers with institutional buyers, community organizations, and underserved markets. This program emphasizes the importance of local, sustainable, and equitable food systems, ensuring fresh, nutritious, and locally grown foods reach those who need them most.
The program is centered on supporting small and mid-sized farmers, ranchers, and growers by creating streamlined pathways to sell their products into wholesale and institutional markets. By fostering partnerships between local producers and buyers, the program strengthens food supply chains, boosts local economies, and enhances community access to healthy food.
Benefits
- Access to new and stable markets
- Reduced barriers for selling to larger buyers
- Opportunities to participate in group certifications and collaborative marketing efforts.
- Techinical support on packaging, and logistics.
- Set fair market prices
- Continued training on soil health, food safety and business basics.
Program Highlights
The program facilitates the purchase of fruits, vegetables, dairy, proteins, and other locally grown or processed foods.
Focuses on delivering fresh, nutritious food to areas with limited access, helping to address food insecurity.
Provides training, resources, and tools for producers to navigate procurement processes, meet food safety requirements, and build capacity.
Drives local economic growth by keeping food dollars within the community and creating jobs along the food supply chain.
Program Eligibility
Who Can Apply
- Operate a farm or ranch in Texas (urban or rural)
- Grow or raise products suitable for local wholesale or retail sale
- Can commit to harvesting and delivering produce during the 8-week pilot period
- Are willing to complete the Market Readiness Curriculum before selling through the program
- Have reliable access to transportation for drop-off in Dallas
- Can provide clean, well-handled produce that meets basic food safety standards
- Are able to issue invoices for payment and maintain simple sales records
Preferred Participants
Participation Requirements
Once accepted, each participant must:
- Attend the virtual or in-person Texas Bypass Orientation
- Complete the Market Readiness Certification
- Deliver produce according to the pilot schedule
- Submit all invoices in a timely manner for payment processing
Frequently Asked Questions
At a designated drop-off site. You will receive the address, time, and point of contact after acceptance.
You set your price. Use recent local price checks and wholesale references. Submit an invoice for payment.
Packaging is your choice. Keep it clean, labeled, and protected for transport.
This is a learning process. Start small, meet your commitment, then scale.
Tentative window is every 8 weeks. Dates may shift based on partner schedules.
Every week for eight weeks. Timing may adjust to remain flexible with weather and partners.