Food Hubs - a Grange Perfect Fit
Richard Roth
WE have Grangers knowing and needing the same things needed here. We have $10,000 now budgeted for grantwriting contracts. We need a food distribution hub in many, many places, all of which could have a Grange conection, with multi-group collaboration. I think it’s time to talk grants for demo food hubs in maybe 2 locations – Annie’s and ours – plus Grange commercial kitchens in a number of places. Maybe subject to matching funds, and we have KD for ours. This seems to me like the next big state Grange or Foundation project. Talk with Annie if you get the chance.
Jon
LOCAL FOOD HUB - A Grange Fit
The need for a Local Food Hub was very apparent to me as I began to source foodstuffs for the Convention Catering, how many phone calls just to find red cabbage? 5!
It has been discussed here in Mendo County for years & some great effort has been made towards defining a Food Hub, as a booklet of suppliers has been available for years now, as well as our thriving Farmers Markets. However, a Farmer's Market & booklet do not help a restaurant or caterer to find enough eggs or cabbage in a given day...enter the HUB. There are successful examples - see this one...it is an actual distribution center.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_99ff26fe-2ad8-11e2-8757-0019bb30f31a.html
Food Hub seems like a perfect fit for the Grange. The need for an actual warehouse or distribution center is clear, but how about an on-line version of the Hub - with daily inputs from farmers, matched to requests from buyers... could be a Grange-based & operated software program. I see it as an economic opportunity for someone to manage, with Grange support or even as a Grange program.
We would find more reasons to tie directly with farmers & consumers, maybe grow our membership as a result. Another project anyone?
Richard Roth
Dear Friends of Local Food:
I wanted to share with you information about an important free workshop sponsored by the Northern CA Regional Land Trust.
For more information, contact Noelle.
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Hi All,
Attached is an invitation to a workshop that I’m (Buy Fresh Buy Local/Land Trust) coordinating along with 3CORE Economic Development and NoRTEC Workforce Development. All of our organizations have a mission to support and promote profitability in agriculture. The workshop is targeting North State farmers, ranchers and those working with them to grow profitability (restaurants, distributors, retailers, etc). Our goal with this event is to bring together these voices to discuss challenges and needs, and leave with an action plan for how our organizations can best leverage our resources to meet these needs. Both 3CORE and NoRTEC have identified agriculture, and more specifically regional food system infrastructure, as strategic areas for job and economic growth. We’re hoping to turn this into meaningful changes on the ground for farmers and the community.
This workshop is FREE and includes breakfast and lunch – this is a one-time event so we’re really hoping for a good turnout.
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Noelle
Noelle Ferdon
Director of Local Food Systems
Northern CA Regional Land Trust
167 E. 3rd Ave
Chico, CA 95926
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Building & Sustaining Profitability
for North State Farmers & Ranchers
What:
A participatory event to discuss & to hear
challenges & needs of farmers and ranchers
When: Monday, December 10, 2012
Time:
8:30 am to 1:00 pm
No Cost Breakfast & Lunch Provided
Where: Rolling Hills Casino
2655 Everett Freeman Way
Corning, CA 96021
RSVP:
Courtney Farrell, 3CORE
Come Prepared To: Provide input, identify concerns, set goals for building & sustaining profitability in your agricultural enterprise
“Our goal is to listen and to create an action plan”