Online farmer's market founders hope to expand access to fresh food

[1]Square Harvest, an online farmer's market, started its rollout this month (image: Square Harvest).When most people think of a farmer’s market, a supercomputer programmer is likely not something that comes to mind.

Yet Madhavi Krishnan, a software developer whose professional experience includes working at Epic and in computer programming at UW-Madison, is ready to contribute to the local food industry.

Madhavi and her husband Karu Sankaralingam, a computer science professor at UW-Madison, are the founders of Square Harvest [2], an online farmers market set to launch during March.

“We are foodies,” Krishnan said of Sankaralingam and herself. “We appreciate food.”

Following the birth of her son, Krishnan said she began to realize the importance of healthy food.

“You want to feed your children the best food,” she said. “Local food is almost always of better quality and nutrition.”

While they have neither agriculture nor business experience, Krishna said their technical backgrounds have prepared them for the venture.

“I think we are bringing a different mindset and set of skills to the table,” she said.

Their website—Square Harvest—will allow customers to research local farms and businesses and to purchase produce, meats, dairy, breads, pastas and other items on Square Harvest’s website. Following weekly updates on Sunday, customers select food products during the week for delivery on Saturday. 

Krishnan said Square Harvest’s model will make it easy for customers to purchase only what they will use — saving money and eliminating waste. The website will also help customers by linking produce with relevant recipes.

Square Harvest will operate year round. In additional to seasonal products, such as fresh produce, it will continue to offer dairy, meat and grain products during the colder months.

Square Harvest’s website says a typical week of grocery shopping is possible via the service. Krishnan said Square Harvest will charge neither membership nor transaction fees.

Krishnan, a devout Dane Country Farmer’s Market attendee and local business supporter, said Square Harvest’s philosophy is “open, conscientious and local.”

“I think right now there’s no easy way to understand the food chain,” Krishnan said. “We want to make that really easy so it’s part of the shopping experience.”

To make the food distribution process easier to comprehend, Square Harvest promises its customers an “open financial system” that is “transparent and simple.”

Krishnan said the online market will allow more than 80 percent of every dollar to go directly to the farmers participating in Square Harvest.

“We believe this is a sustainable business model,” she said.

Krishnan worked with a number of farmers early in the initial stages. She provided farmers with demonstrations of Square Harvest’s website, received feedback and reworked components of her vision. Her relationships with local farmers — many of whom she met at the Dane Country Farmer’s Market — permitted her to understand their challenges and concerns.

“It’s been a learning process but it’s paid off,” she said. “Food is very different from computer science. It’s all about relationships. The most important thing for us is the connection between the farmer and the consumer.”

Initially, Square Harvest will deliver to Madison, Verona, Fitchburg, Middleton, Waunakee, Deforest, Oregon and McFarland. Krishnan said deliveries to Cottage Grove and Sun Prairie are possible in the future.

So far, Square Harvest has nearly 40 vendors, including local farmers and businesses. Krishnan began with people she knew and then sought recommendations from others.

Nathan Clarke, the owner of local honey store Mad Urban Bees, said Krishnan contacted him through Bees’ website. He said such collaborations are important for small businesses like his.

“Her idea seems very much aligned with providing people with local, healthy food,” Clarke said.

With the online market, Krishnan said she views Square Harvest as an addition to the Saturday market on the Capitol Square — not as competition.

“Going to a market is such a powerful experience,” she said. “It’s a social and emotional experience. You get to talk to the farmers. There’s going to be no replacement for that.”

The Silly Yak Bakery’s Holly Beach, another committed participant of Square Harvest, echoed this point.

She said Square Harvest will likely add to the Dane County Farmer’s Market rather than take away from the experience.

Already ready to supply her bakery’s gluten free and whole wheat breads, Beach said she hopes her partnership with Square Harvest will allow her to reach those unable to attend the farmer’s market at the Capitol Square—namely senior citizens or those with physical disabilities.

Krishnan reverberated Beach’s ideas about Square Harvest’s projected audience.

“Our target is for people who cannot go to the market now but who really want good food,” she said. “This is a supplement for people who cannot make it to the [Dane Country Farmer’s Market] and to bring the market to your doorstep.”

Above all, Krishnan and Sankaralingam seek to use their computer and technical backgrounds to facilitate the relationship among food producers and food consumers.

“We want to bring more good food to good people,” Krishnan said.