FoodRoutes Network has created partnerships with community-based nonprofit organizations across the country involved in nurturing strong regional markets for locally grown foods. Each organization is creating and implementing a "Buy Local" marketing campaign helps bridge gaps between community farmers and consumers.

The 10 founding organizations follow. They are dedicated to transforming the current food system into one that is sustainable and capable of serving future generations.

• Alternative Energy Resources Organization, Helena, MT
• Baton Rouge Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance, Baton Rouge, LA
• Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Santa Cruz, CA
• Eat Local Foods Coalition (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association), Unity, ME
• Ecotrust, Portland, OR
• Land Stewardship Project, White Bear Lake, MN
• Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems, East Lansing, MI
• Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and their local food guide Buy Appalachian, Marshall, NC
• Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Millheim, PA
• Practical Farmers of Iowa, Ames, IA

The Buy Local campaigns have utilized lessons learned from the "Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown" effort, supported by FoodRoutes Network and implemented by Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, a nonprofit organization in Amherst, MA dedicated to sustaining agriculture in Western Massachusetts. In an independent evaluation, 78 percent of the area residents polled recalled the Local Hero campaign. Of those, 65 percent reported that the campaign influenced them to buy locally grown food. Further, 70 percent of participating farmers reported increased sales after the campaign began.

FoodRoutes Network was established in 1997 to foster and promote sustainable food systems in critical regions of the United States by using state-of-the-art communications techniques and public policy innovations. In 2000, FoodRoutes Network became a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization focused on impacting the public policy arena, generating marketplace opportunities, and stimulating partnerships around sustainable food systems. In 2006, there are 19 groups nationwide participating in Buy Fresh Buy Local campaigns.