We’re honored that T&T Produce has been selected to partner with the USDA on the Farmers to Families Food Box program. T&T Produce will utilize it’s existing distribution and packing operations to fulfill 15,000 produce boxes per week to non-profit programs in Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville, and Birmingham. 

This USDA program was initiated in aiding in relief under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to purchase and distribute up to $3 billion of agricultural products to those in need. 

The Director of Operations for T&T Produce, Tanner Buchanan, is confident that their existing relationships with nonprofits have given them a solid foundation of understanding the needs of the community. “When initially planning and strategizing on how we can best serve these partners, we knew that the contents of the box had to put the consumer first,” Tanner continues to mention how cold storage restraints and capacity was the main factor for nonprofits and who they hand it out to. “We took into consideration shelf life, ease of consumption, nutrients, and ability to be used in varying environments and situations for the consumer utilizing the truck-to-trunk concept.” 

T&T Produce first deliveries take place Monday, May 18, 2020, and lasting through June 30, 2020. A list of approved partners T&T Produce will be delivering produce boxes include, but not limited to:

• Chattanooga Area Food Bank
• Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and North East Tennessee
• Tennessee School Nutrition Program
• YoungLife of Chattanooga and Birmingham
• Action Ministries in Rome, GA
• Other local non-profit partners

“Supporting our community has been the pillar and leading encouragement of our business model since T&T Produce’s beginning in 1989,” said Anthony Buchanan, CEO of T&T Produce. “This USDA partnership reflects our desires to quickly get fresh produce in the homes of people that need it most.”

T&T Produce is no newcomer to government contracts. For over twenty years, T&T Produce has served the Tennessee School Nutrition Program by providing over 30 counties with fresh produce and now are partnering with them to deliver the USDA Farmers to Families Food Boxes. “These school systems have stepped up to the need of feeding families in their communities by providing breakfast, lunch, and weekend snacks,” says Heather Scarborough, Director of Government Contracts. “Now we have the honor of providing these boxes as part of their “drive-thru” pick up system.”

Tanner also notes that the company’s “heart for this program is rooted in knowing that our own family and friends have been affected by the current pandemic” and this box program “fulfills a pressing need right now.”  

For more information about T&T Produce’s partnership with the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program, please see the official press release:  VIEW PRESS RELEASE