Growing Together: Building Stronger Communities with Local Farms

At Compass Group North America, together with Foodbuy, we are redefining what it means to support local food systems. Across the country, thousands of farmers are finding new opportunities to grow their businesses—and entire communities are benefiting—because of our Grow with Us program.

What began as a pilot in North Carolina has blossomed into a nationwide movement. In partnership with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), we set out to tackle the challenges small farmers face—unpredictable buyers, limited market access, and uneven distribution channels. Today, Grow with Us is helping farmers thrive in California, Illinois, Virginia, Michigan, Washington, Texas, Maryland, and beyond.

This year alone, we welcomed over 40 new farms and expanded into six major markets—Spokane, Atlanta, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.. While Grow with Us started as a seasonal effort, it is now a year-round program  across the US that brings a steady stream of local produce to our chefs and clients, and provides farmers the long-term stability they deserve.

Through Grow with Us, farmers gain more than just new markets. They gain partnerships. They connect with our chefs who are passionate about featuring their products, they access nonprofit resources for continued education, and they join a growing network of agricultural leaders shaping the future of food.

“The process of working with Compass and being able to sell our products to them and the price point that they’re buying our products at allows our farm to continue to build capacity so that we could grow more and sell more by being consistent.”
Patrick Brown, Farmer in the Carolinas

Beyond a procurement initiative, Grow with Us is a commitment to ensuring that when farmers succeed, communities thrive. As the program continues to expand, we are proud to lead the way in building stronger, more resilient food systems across the U.S.