Local Food Hub Charlottesville
I never gave a lot of thought to where my food was coming from until I learned how to cook. Before then I wanted things to be as simple as possible (I’m talking heat it up in the microwave simple), and so thinking about ingredients and where they were coming from was not something I could fully comprehend.
My mindset completely changed during COVID when my husband helped me learn how to cook and it (shockingly!) became something I really enjoy. As a result, I started giving more thought to where our food comes from, how to keep things fresh and local, what that all entails, and – perhaps most importantly – what that means for community members. In doing some research, I stumbled upon the Local Food Hub in Charlottesville.
If you aren’t familiar, food hubs are a great way to give the community you live in access to local food while supporting independent farms. They are also fantastic for providing outreach and education, as well as delivering food to those in need. In other words, it’s something important and beneficial to every community. As this is something I’ve grown to appreciate, I wanted to dedicate this post to talking about the Local Food Hub of Charlottesville and the great work they do for the area.
Local Food Hub Charlottesville
Founded in 2009, the Local Food Hub is a Charlottesville nonprofit that was started in order to increase access to food within the community. They work with farmers in Central Virginia to provide technical assistance and guidance so they can in turn offer locally grown and nutritious foods to the community.
Buying from local farmers also has a positive economic impact. After all, buying local means that money is getting poured back into your community rather than going out of state.
Mission
The Local Food Hub’s mission is to “advance equitable access to fresh food, independent and small family farms, and fairness in farming.” It’s a big order, so how do they do it successfully?
Their focus is on helping Virginia’s minority and independent farmers by offering technical assistance, financial support, and training. They also help by facilitating access to new markets, which is where things like farmer’s markets are so important.
You can consider the Local Food Hub as being comprised of three buckets: Food Access, Eastern Food Hub Collaborative, and Grower Services.
It’s not surprising the Local Food Hub feels passionately about community access to local food. One way they help with this is through their Fresh Farmacy program. This program ensures segments of the community with low food access or those at risk for diet related illnesses have options. By utilizing Fresh Farmacy, households can receive biweekly shares of 6-9 regionally sourced items, as well as educational materials. Participants can be empowered in the kitchen by being given knowledge and choice about their food and nutrition.
Eastern Food Hub Collaborative
In 2020, the Local Food Hub became part of the Eastern Food Hub Collaborative. This collab is comprised of a network of food hubs all along the East Coast. They work together as a unit in order to increase opportunities for farmers, as well as access to food for everyone in the community. By being part of a collaborative, the Local Food Hub of Charlottesville is then able to focus more on their local nonprofit programs in Central Virginia.
The Local Food Hub has been providing technical and food safety assistance to local farmers since its formation in 2009. This is something they will continue to improve upon, as they lend support to farmers in areas such as safety, marketing, recordkeeping, and meeting increasing demand.
History
As I mentioned above, the Local Food Hub was created in 2009 by Kate Collier and Eric Gertner. Collier, the founder of Feast! (a local restaurant and market with some of the best sandwiches in town), learned from talking to the local farmers she worked with how beneficial it would be to them if someone else could help facilitate food distribution. This would allow farmers to be free of things like marketing so they could instead focus on growing the food itself.
In 2019, they sold the distribution branch to 4P Food, which allowed the food hub to focus more on the programmatic work that will in turn help lay the necessary groundwork in order to build a resilient food system.
Additionally, in 2020-2022, the food hub ran a drive-thru farmer’s market in order to support producers in the area, which also increased community access to local food in a unique way.
Another bonus to creating the Local Food Hub is it’s a great way to ensure everyone in the community has access to fresh and healthy local food. This means schoolchildren, the elderly, and even helping those with food related illnesses.
Directory
The Local Food Hub is partnered with over 50 farms in the area, and all are worth checking out. It’s great to have your choice of local food! Here are the farms from Albemarle County and Charlottesville, where I live:
They also work with what are called Value-Added Producers. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a very cool concept where agricultural items are used to create a product, usually with a higher shelf life. An example of this would be using tomatoes from local farms to create a Bloody Mary mix or taking local fruit to make a jam. Here are some of my favorite local ones the food hub works with:
Back Pocket Provision – Richmond based; they make my favorite Bloody Mary mixes.
Carpe Donut! – What could be more delicious than fresh apple cider donuts made from scratch using organic ingredients?
Elysium Honey – With honeybee hives collapsing, responsible honey farming has never been more important. Elysium is doing it the right way.
Mad Hatter Foods – Dubbed a superfood, these hot sauces are utilizing local ingredients in a flavorful way.
Mountain Culture Kombucha – Craft brewed and delicious, these kombuchas come in flavors like Watermelon Pink Salt and Grapefruit Hop.
NoBull Burger – While I enjoy a good burger every so often, I also love a plant-based option. NoBull provides a great one.
The Shack – A restaurant in Staunton known for its amazing food, they are known for using fresh and local ingredients. You definitely won’t want to sleep on their Sorghum Hot Sauce - it’s the fastest way to elevate a chicken wing.
How Can You Support?
Looking for the best ways to offer support to the Local Food Hub? Check out their website. You can find information on events, markets, their partner farms, and even ways you can donate to support the Local Food Hub. Outside of the hub itself, I also recommend looking for local produce when shopping, frequenting farmer’s markets, and looking for restaurants passionate about farm to table cooking (for ideas, check out my post on the Dairy Market and my post on Best Casual Restaurants). These are easy ways to do your part until access to food becomes the norm.
Until next time, cheers and happy eating!