Intervale Food Hub Producers Manual
Understanding Local Food Transportation Costs
Food Hub Center
Featured Resources
| Regional Food Hub Resource Guide | NEW USDA Report: The Role of Food Hubs in Local Food Marketing |
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What is a food hub?
A regional 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 to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.
The NGFN Food Hub Collaboration supports the success of existing and developing hubs. Read a summary of our approach.
Research & Resources
- Look in the left sidebar for a list of some of the best papers and presentations on food hubs. Or click here for titles and descriptions.
- The Making Good Food Work conference website has a great set of resources here and here.
- The Sustainable Agriculture and Research Program (SAREP) at UC Davis has many resources on food hubs and values-based supply chains.
- Financing Healthy Food Options Resource Bank from the US Treasury CDFI Fund
Study Hubs
The NGFN Food Hub Collaboration has selected nine Study Hubs from across the country to broadly inform the strategies and activities of food hubs nationwide. We will work closely with these food hubs and report extensively on their progress so that we may all learn from their models, challenges, and successes. As a group, the Study Hubs represent a balance of model and legal structure, age of enterprise, scale, markets served, and region of the country. Learn more about these innovators.
NGFN Webinars
Some webinars we've hosted relevant to food hubs.
>>> See our UPCOMING free webinar topics >>>
- Production Planning to Increase Market Efficiency: Reducing Financial Risk Through Food Hubs
- Food Systems Networks That Work - Accelerating Learning and Increasing Commerce
- Financing Food Hubs: Dozens of Ideas to Access Capital
- Clearing the Roadblocks: Market Based Strategies for Getting Good Food to All Communities
- Food Hubs: Viable Regional Distribution Solutions
- Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Significant Food System Change: Food Hubs, Regional Distribution, Farm to School, and more
- The Business of Food Hubs: Planning Successful Regional Produce Aggregation Facilities
- Community Food Enterprise
- Innovations in Value Chain Infrastructure-Red Tomato
- Aggregation/Distribution: Appalachian Sustainable Development
Excellent Partner Webinars
- Food Hubs: What are They? Why do They Matter to the Northeast? from Farm Credit East
Recent News & Events
- Wholesome Wave and CEI Invest in Rhode Island Food Hub
June 3, 2013
CEI and Wholesome Wave are working together to provide business development assistance and “patient capital” to Farm Fresh Rhode Island. This financing will help Farm Fresh Rhode Island double produce storage and expand its Mobile Market and Veggie Box programs. - In Virginia, a Food Hub Helps Growers Scale Up
May 31, 2013
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Blue Ridge Produce in Elkwood, VA, discussing the important role that food hubs play in supporting farmers' capability to improve and expand their production. Vilsack discussed the USDA's most recent initiatives that can provide growers with funding, education and technical assistance opportunities. Find out more about these opportunities here. - Food hub establishes website for online produce orders
May 29, 2013
The Hoosier Harvest Market in West Lafayette, IN is a new web-based marketplace supported by the Central Indiana Food Hub. Consumers can shop online from a variety of farmers whose produce is aggregated and packaged at a central location, and then distributed to a variety of pickup points. - Webinar: How to Sell Fruits and Vegetables to the USDA
May 23, 2013
On Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. EST, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will present a free interactive webinar, “How to Sell Fruits and Vegetables to the USDA.” Space is limited so sign up today! For more information on what products AMS buys, visit the Commodity Procurement website, www.ams.usda.gov/commoditypurchasing. - Food Hubs: From Farm To Table
May 22, 2013
Listen to this radio show hosted on NPR, where James Barham of the USDA-AMS, Matt Mulder of Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, and Zach Buckner of Relay Foods delve into the importance and success of food hubs around the nation in response to the demand for locally grown food. - Groundbreaking for Healthy Food Hub in New Orleans
May 7, 2013
Construction has started on the ReFresh project, located in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. The food hub will be located in a supermarket that has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina.
- Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative
May 2, 2013
Southern Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative in Madison, Wisconsin, received a Value Added Producer Grant from the USDA. They will use this $150,000 to assist in the start-up of a food hub and packinghouse. The food hub will aggregate local produce sold under the Wisconsin Farmed brand. - Values-Based Food Supply Chain Case Study: Idaho’s Bounty
April 2013
Idaho's Bounty was featured in a series by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems that examines values-based food supply chains. This case study identifies Idaho's Bounty as an integral piece to a food system that is dependent on cooperation and mutual support. - 21 Acres: A new hub for connected local agriculture
April 29, 2013
21 Acres is now an active food hub in Woodinville, Washington that is committed to supporting local growers, educating the community and running an ecofriendly operation. Take a look at their website for more information. - Washington State Food Hub Connects Small Growers to Large Buyers, Satisfying Demand for Local Food
April 25, 2013
The Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) in Northwest Washington has been working with farmers to establish food hubs so that they can break current barriers associated with getting their products to market. - Building a stronger food hub
April 12, 2013
The Sharing Farm, a food hub of Richmond, VA is working towards improving its food hub operations so that it may continue to provide a gathering space and distribute produce for community members. - April 18th "Celebrate Growing Open House"
April 10, 2013
Quad Cities Food Hub will be hosting an open house on April 18th from 6 to 8pm at the Food Hub Market in the Freight House on River Drive in downtown Davenport. - WFU Helping to Create New Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative
April 8, 2013
The Wisconsin Farmers Union is working to develop a new food hub called the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative in an effort to create new, local markets for growers to sell their fresh produce. - To market: Farmers wanted for grassroots local food hub
April 7, 2013
Farmers in Catskills, NY are discussing the potential for creating a local food hub to market to New York City customers. With the help of Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship (CADE), farmers learned about the processes involved in becoming market-ready for wholesale distribution. - Spokane Conference to Explore Food Hub Potential
March 28, 2013
The potential for a food hub will be discussed at the Power of our Regional Food Economy Conference in Spokane, WA, where currently only 2% of food is sourced regionally. - Farms' food hubs mean business
March 19, 2013
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo recently invested $3.6 million in regional food hubs. These state grants demonstrate the importance of food hubs to supporting regional economies and food systems. - NC project helps food go from farm to table by smoothing out supply-chain
March 15,2013
Farmhand Foods, one of the Wallace Center's Study Hubs, is an aggregator and distributor for meat in North Carolina. Not only do they play a role in increasing the farmers' income, they provide services that a small farmer doesn't have easy access to including processing and marketing of the product. - Upcoming food hub to reuse hospital building, support local economy
March 12, 2013
The Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation received a $50,000 to build the Traverse City food hub. The food hub will be located in an old hospital building and should be active by the end of 2014. - Big Save Lihu‘e envisioned as a Kaua‘i Made food hub
March 11, 2013
A new food hub called Big Save is in the early stages of development on the island of Kaua'i. The hub will be used for aggregation and distribution but also third party food processing for value added products, and will include meat processing capabilities. - Feed Fayetteville plans community food hub in former church
March 06, 2013
Local food charity, Feed Fayetteville, is working to create a sustainable food system in Fayetteville by developing a food hub in the building that once was a church. Future plans are to have a demonstration spaces in addition to the aggregation and distribution center so that the community not only has access to fresh food, but has the knowledge of how to grow and prepare local foods. - Information needed for Gem County, ID food hub survey
March 06, 2013
The Gem County Community Food Hub Advisory Council needs information from local producers to determine the feasibility of a food hub in the Valley of Plenty. Answers must be turned in by March 22, 2013.
- National Innovation Fund Grant will Support Local Food Hub
March 02, 2013
The Convergence Partnership has awarded the the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque (CFGD) with $50,000 to develop a food hub "build healthier, more equitable communities."
Assistance for Food Hubs: Database of Consultants
The NGFN database contains contact information for many consultants across the country. Hubs, and those looking to assist them should use this as a resource for finding help.
Are you a consultant?
Then you should be listed in our database. It's simple. Enter yourself in our database now.
Funding Sources
USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Regional Food Hub Subcommittee created an edited selection of USDA programs that have previously supported regional food hubs, with examples of funded projects.
US Food Hubs - Map
MAP KEY: Large green markers indicate NGFN Food Hub Collaboration Study Hubs.
US Food Hubs - Full List
Sorted by state. Are we missing any? Please let us know!
NGFN Food Hub Collaboration
The NGFN Food Hub Collaboration is a partnership between Wallace Center at Winrock International, USDA, National Good Food Network, and others. The Collaboration is working to ensure the success of existing and emerging food hubs in the US by building capacity through connection, outreach, research, technical assistance and partnerships. By supporting this crucial player in the value chain we aim to accelerate the growth of regional food systems that make healthy and affordable food available to all communities while creating viable markets of scale for regionally focused producers.
