SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – In the wake of increasing food prices, higher housing and transportation costs, Tahoe Food Hub is helping communities get their hands on high-quality, sustainably grown food, and South Lake has been added to their list of delivery stops. 

“We started with adding locations in Sierraville and Reno. We have one in King’s Beach, Tahoe City and Incline Village, and most recently, this summer, we added a new drop delivery location in South Lake Tahoe,” said General Manager, Maddie Rohner. “That’s one we’re really trying to spread the word about and expand because it’s a new delivery route for us in wholesale and retail as well.”

With businesses such as Caesars Republic and Harrah’s who are purchasing food from local family farms for their restaurants, Tahoe Food Hub is able to sustain their ability to deliver, with no minimum, for retail and small wholesale customers in South Lake. 

Among some of their challenges, Rohner says that spreading the word about their new stop is something they are tackling. “We’re a nonprofit, so we have, essentially, no marketing budget. We keep our margins really, really low and our prices as low as possible so that people can access the food, and the majority of the cost is going directly to our farms. We pay a fair market price to our farmers, the same price, whether it’s wholesale or retail ordering.”

When it comes to farms that Tahoe Food Hub works with, Rohner noted most of them are family owned, with only one or two people harvesting. “Being able to get their food to bigger institutional buyers like a casino or a school district is impossible for those small growers without a distributor like us.” 

Tahoe Food Hub offers wholesale pricing, assists with sourcing, aggregation, and delivery, all through a transparent supply chain. 

Their full à la carte online farmers market opens Fridays at 5 p.m. “You can scroll and shop, you can purchase as little or as much as you want. We do have a standard CSA style harvest box that people can select, but they can also just choose individual items as well,” said Rohner, with the market place offering everything from eggs, baked goods, jams, to fresh flowers and fruit in small retail case sizes. “You can build your own customizable box.”

Orders are due by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and Tahoe Food Hub then sends all the orders to their farms. Items are harvested on Wednesday mornings, and everything is distributed Thursday and Friday. “If you’re a customer in South Lake Tahoe, you can go and pick up your order on Friday morning.” 

When folks shop with Tahoe Food Hub, they’re not only supporting small farmers, they’re also helping feed the community. All earnings go back into Tahoe Food Hub’s community impact programs, such as their Giving Box program and Farm to School program.

“Instead of paying money to a grocery store that’s making a profit, you’re reinvesting back into the community and you’re also ensuring long term economic stability for the farms in our region. All of those farmers are regenerative farms, so we ensure that our farmers are following good ecological practices to help mitigate the effects of climate change.”

If you’re interested in browsing the market, create an account at https://tahoefoodhub.localfoodmarketplace.com/Account/Register. 

To learn more about Tahoe Food Hub’s mission and their partner farms, visit tahoefoodhub.org.