Farmhand Foods, a CEFS-incubated business that aggregates, distributes, and markets high-quality, locally-raised, pasture-based beef and pork products from a network of 30+ livestock producers, has been selected as a “Study Hub” by the Wallace Center at Winrock International.
The US Department of Agriculture defines a food hub as a business or organization that connects producers with buyers by offering a suite of production, distribution and marketing services. Growing in popularity around the country, food hubs are considered innovative business models that allow farmers of all sizes to meet the growing consumer demand for fresh, local food by facilitating their entry into larger-volume markets such as grocery stores, hospitals and schools.
The nine Study Hubs selected by the Wallace Center’s National Good Food Network Food Hub Collaboration represent different business models and regions of the country. They are being studied in an effort to better understand the challenges and opportunities faced by regional food hubs, with the goal of applying lessons learned to growing food hubs nationwide.
“We are thrilled to be selected and excited by the shared learning we’ll be able to do with other food hubs in similar stages of development throughout the country. This opportunity comes at a good time as we plan how to scale up and work with more farmers and buyers,” says Jennifer Curtis, Co-Founder of Farmhand Foods.
The other regional food hubs selected are the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) in Salinas, California; Cherry Capital Foods in Traverse City, Michigan; Farm Fresh Rhode Island in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Common Market Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Grasshoppers Distribution in Louisville, Kentucky; Idaho’s Bounty Co-op in Hailey and Garden City, Idaho; Jack and Jake’s, Inc., in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Local Food Hub in Charlottesville, VA. Farmhand Foods is the only Study Hub selected that focuses exclusively on meat.
For more information on the Study Hub project, click here.
For more information on Farmhand Foods, see http://www.pastureraisedinnc.com/
From the November 2012 E-Newsletter