Excerpt from:

Emerging Local Food Purchasing Initiatives in Northern California Hospitals
Elizabeth Sachs and Gail Feenstra
UC Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education Program
Agricultural Sustainability Institute, UC Davis
sarep.ucdavis.edu/CDPP/fti/Farm_To_Hospital_WebFinal.pdf

In 2007, John Muir signed an agreement with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) through the nonprofit’s "Buy Fresh Buy Local" marketing campaign. With the agreement, the hospital committed to buying an initial five percent minimum of its produce locally, gradually increasing to a minimum of 10 percent. This arrangement was made possible by switching the bulk of the hospital’s produce order to Bay Cities Produce, a produce wholesaler in San Leandro. The company specializes in California grown produce, and estimates that 70 to 80 percent of its produce is grown in central/northern California. However, there is not yet "perfect information" about the source of all its produce, and several hospital buyers have encouraged the company to improve sourcing details and seek even more local items. Some institutional buyers see particular potential in working with Bay Cities to increase local purchasing because the company operates a processing facility and markets cut and sliced items as well as unprocessed produce.

At Bay Cities Produce we are dedicated to working with our local suppliers and our customers to provide sustainable local produce whenever available. We have expanded the FDA mandated Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) to include local designations so you know where your local produce comes from.  We can also provide monthly reports of what product you purchased from local areas including quantities and sales.