Whole Foods Market Inc. has joined forces with Sustain, a Chicago based non-profit group to offer loans to family farmers. The loans are part of an effort by Whole Foods to obtain more locally grown and produced products for their midwestern stores.
Sustain, which promotes organic and sustainable agriculture, is to process the applications for funds that Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has pledged to lend in an effort to boost the number of local farmers qualified to supply foods to its 22 stores in the Midwest.
Whole Foods has pledged to lend up to $10 million nationwide to farmers “who are looking to expand production or move into this kind of niche,” said Jim Slama, president of Sustain, which will administer the loan program in the Midwest on behalf of Whole Foods. Loans are limited to a maximum of $50,000.
Interest rates in the program are pegged at 5 percent to 9 percent, which the company says are lower than the rates that would be charged small farmers. Loan life may range from a few months to 10 years. The loan program dovetails with a standards program being developed by Sustain and Goodness Greenness, an organic food distributor, that is designed to help farmers understand the packing and shipping requirements of retailers such as Whole Foods.