Building the Food System We Need
For decades, American agriculture has evolved in one direction: corporations growing fewer crops in fewer places and shipping them along fragile supply chains. The vast majority of America’s fruits and vegetables come from the Central Valley in California, whether you live there or 3,000 miles away. Ironically, many farming communities are now food deserts, surrounded by fields growing corn for ethanol and animal feed and fed by chain stores selling ultraprocessed foods.
We know the costs. Farm workers are among the most exploited in the US. For every dollar of food sold, only 11 cents goes back to farmers. The average meal travels ~1500 miles from farm to plate, and if that chain breaks, it means disaster. It also worsens food itself; in order to survive a long journey, food needs to be picked early, or engineered to have fewer nutrients. The good news is that people are hungry for alternatives, and they have one: the food hub movement, led in part by Tom McDougall and 4P Foods.
Founded by Tom McDougall in 2014, 4P Foods is a regional food hub that links local farmers to buyers such as schools, restaurants, and grocery stores. Growing up in the rural Hudson Valley, Tom witnessed first hand the disappearance of small farms as industrial agriculture expanded. The dairy farm he worked on became a golf course, and his father lost his job as a grocer following retail consolidation. When Tom moved to DC, he noticed the community consequences of these changes: large populations with no access to nutrient-rich food.
4P connects more than 200 local, regional, and regenerative farms across the Mid-Atlantic to families and institutions, shortening the supply chain from over 10 transactions to just two: from farmers to 4P to customers.
2014, Tom founded 4P Foods
2019, co-founded the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative
2022, Tom selected as a Food Leaders Fellow at the Food & Society at the Aspen Institute
2022, represented farmers at the White House Food is Medicine launch
2026 McNulty Prize Winner
The food system of today is not working. We have an opportunity to design it differently. We are creating a blueprint that produces stronger local economies, healthier communities, and a more sustainable planet.
For Tom, transforming food systems is a collaborative effort. In 2019, 4P Foods co-founded the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative, a network of mission-aligned food hubs along the Eastern Seaboard, to promote regional collaboration and a more cohesive food supply chain.. In 2014, according to the USDA, there were around 70 food hubs in the country. Today, in part due to Tom and 4P Foods’ advocacy and leadership, there are around 500 food hubs across every state of the US.
$100M+
directed to the regional economy.
300,000+
of loan clients are entrepreneurs of color.
68 cents
on the dollar paid to farmers on average (compared with 12 in our traditional food system).
4P Foods is paving the way for an innovative food system. Through their Food-is-Medicine program, they serve as a “Farmacy” for healthcare providers ranging from large national hospitals to smaller rural clinics. In 2025, they started a pilot program in partnership with the Veterans Health Administration where they create seasonal produce prescription boxes that are delivered to veterans homes in Maryland.
Transforming food systems shouldn’t end in the Mid-Atlantic. Looking ahead, Tom hopes that 4P foods can serve as a playbook for others who want to replicate these solutions in their communities.
Tom McDougall at 4P Foods’ Virginia-based warehouse.
Food is sourced from local farmers—primarily women, veterans, and Black farmers.