Increased Local Food Sales to Schools and the Value of Grant Investment: Findings from the 2025 National Food Hub Survey
Print
EmailShowcasing experiences from the 2024 calendar year, the initial findings from the 2025 National Food Hub Survey highlight increased sales to schools, as well as a high dependence on grant funding.
East Lansing, MI – Food hubs are businesses or organizations that manage aggregation, distribution and marketing so that communities across the US can access food produced in their region. Food hubs are a vital market channel within the local and regional food systems that improve community food access, strengthen local economies, promote public health, and foster environmental resilience.
The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MSU CRFS) has released initial findings from the 2025 National Food Hub Survey, as part of a survey project conducted since 2012. With 100 responses from across the country, including 27 states and the District of Columbia, the recently published Executive Summary showcases the key findings from the full report. This is the sixth iteration of the survey and was conducted by MSU CRFS in collaboration with the University of Michigan Program Evaluation Group (UM PEG) in early 2025, requesting food hub data from 2024. The survey aims to understand the state of the food hub sector, food hubs’ role in institutional sales, the financial landscape, market shifts, and network opportunities.
Dr. Jude Barry, MSU CRFS Associate Director and report co-author, comments on some of the unique findings in this survey, “Our survey results indicate that food hubs are selling a lot more to school food programs and food banks in 2024 than they were in 2021. Coupled with food hubs expressing the value of grant programs to their business, one can see the positive influence of funding on local food procurement in communities.” 
According to the analysis of results from 2025 National Food Hub Survey, food hub survey respondents' total gross sales greatly increased to K-12 schools and food banks between 2021 and 2025. Alongside that, over 50% of responding hubs have relied on grant funding. This type of funding, often from the federal or state-level, is the dominant source that encourages and enables institutions, such as schools and hospitals, to purchase local produce from food hubs.
Despite most hubs reporting that they expect increased sales in the years ahead, hubs are also facing increased operating costs and profitability pressures. Hubs reported that their other main concern in the financial landscape is the decreased availability and uncertainty of federal funding. As community and economic connectors, food hubs are critical pieces of the food system that strengthen local economies and promote public health. From the Survey, responding food hubs stated that local food sourcing, farmer viability, regional food systems resilience, and access to healthy food for consumers were their top values.
“Collectively, the hubs represented in this year’s survey purchased from nearly 5,000 different farms, most of which were small or mid-sized,” said Kathryn Colasanti, Senior Evaluation Associate at UM PEG and report co-author. “Food hubs do more than move food — they create profitable markets for the farmers in their area and link community members to farm-fresh foods.”
The full report, Findings of the 2025 National Food Hub Survey, will be published later this fall containing more complete results. Webinars focused on exploring this content in more detail will be scheduled for early 2026. Data from this survey, in conjunction with the results of the five previous surveys, can be explored in this interactive data dashboard. Previous national food hub survey reports are available here: http://foodsystems.msu.edu/nationalfoodhubsurvey.
This work is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems advances regionally-rooted food systems through applied research, education, and outreach by uniting the knowledge and experience of diverse stakeholders with that of MSU faculty and staff. Our work fosters a thriving economy, equity, and sustainability for Michigan, the nation, and the planet by advancing systems that produce food that is healthy, green, fair, and affordable. The Program Evaluation Group (PEG) was established at the University of Michigan School of Social Work in 2011 as part of the school’s ongoing commitment to community engaged service. PEG partners with public and private organizations to provide evaluation, data management, and data analysis services, providing customized dissemination materials for a wide variety of audiences. Learn more at https://ssw.umich.edu/research/program-evaluation About the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems
About the University of Michigan Program Evaluation Group
