We are honored, yet again, in helping out with the local initiative to create the Grand Valley Food Hub in Grand Junction, CO. The Food Hub hopes to aggregate the agricultural and entrepreneurial resources and the efforts of the Valley into one centralized location so farmers, food producers, wholesale buyers and consumers benefit from the efficiency.
Food Hubs are becoming the new normal as smaller farmers and producers find it difficult to compete with the big players in the industry. By having a combined infrastructure available to these actors, the Food Hub makes life for these smaller producers to reach their local audience faster and we less overhead. Farmers want to focus on thier crops, not farmers markets. Producers want to bring out the best in the farmer’s bounty not fight the supply chain monsters.
Here is the link to Wikipedia:
A food hub, as defined by the USDA, is “a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.”
Food Hubs are different from Farmer’s Markets slightly. They provide additional services and infrastructure to benefit the community via the efficiencies of a larger organization.
Food hubs offer an exciting bridge between food producers and consumers, providing a mutually beneficial relationship across both ends of the food system. As defined by the National Food Hub Collaboration, “a food hub is a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers in order to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.”
The movement is taking hold across the nation as evidenced by the rise of these organizations. Dan Hobbs of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has been providing insight on what works and what doesn’t so they can start with a solid foundation moving forward. One years of meetings and research has brought the Grand Valley Food Hub to today.
They are hosting an event on March 30th at Western Community College to communicate, further investigate the need from the community about what needs are out there.
Go to their website and sign-up for their newsletter and tell your friends too. You can RSVP to the event (required) if you are interested in attending on here.
Share the bounty and it will grow.