BUILDING FOOD SYSTEM RESILIENCE

The Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) is nearing completion of the Food Hub, a groundbreaking new facility that will transform the organization’s ability to meet the needs of clients and partners. The innovative design incorporates cutting-edge technology to minimize environmental impact while also providing space for CAE’s programming. The Food Hub demonstrates how agriculture can and must work in concert with environmental sustainability.  Every day, local farmers, food businesses, and food security partners face challenges that simply can’t be met without the support, services, and guidance of CAE. This building will allow CAE to continue our important work for years to come. 
 

CAE is currently stretched beyond its physical capacity, yet demand for our services and programs continues to grow. This project will align our operations with existing services, allowing for growth and better service to partners and food producers for years to come.

This new building allows Farm Connex to operate out of a space more appropriate for their size. The current leased warehouse is 19 feet wide with a single loading dock, and over $13million in local products are aggregated and distributed out of this warehouse annually. The new space will have multiple loading docks and more room to work, which will increase efficiency. The new space allows Farm Connex to hold inventory for more producers, reduce redundancies, grow to meet an ever increasing demand, and have adequate office space for staff.

The “Yellow Barn Project” is an infrastructure initiative between the Town of Hardwick and local partners which renovated an iconic barn at the west entrance of Hardwick, and created a brand new 25,000 sq. ft building to meet critical needs of the local food system. CAE’s Food Hub occupies 12,500 sq. ft of the new building and adds needed aggregation, gathering, and working space for CAE.

CAE’s plans for the building will include space that meets the needs of a working food hub and adheres to the organization’s commitment to environmental and community demands. In addition to the energy-efficient refrigeration and heating systems, the space will expand CAE’s storage capacity, have a designated gathering space for public use, and provide more than 3 times the amount of current operating space for CAE’s distribution service, Farm Connex. The rooftop is ready for a solar array which, upon installation, will make this facility one of the largest, climate-forward working food hubs in the region.

 

We are over 90% of the way there towards reaching our goal of $4.1 million. Please help CAE raise the last 10%.  We are proud to set an example of how it’s possible to plan for the future while also meeting the needs for today and invite you to help us get this groundbreaking facility across the finish line.

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At the Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) we support rural communities and working landscapes by building a more interconnected local food system. We cultivate community by organizing and collaborating with farmers, food producers, and neighbors. We strengthen the agricultural economy by providing farm & food business resources, access to capital, shared infrastructure, and dynamic social enterprises. This new infrastructure means CAE will have adequate space to meet the needs of our farmers and support future resilience of our communities.

The Food Hub is designed to 

• Generate zero greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration by utilizing an innovative Co2-based refrigeration system.
• Capture and recirculate the heat generated from the refrigeration system to serve as the primary heat source for the space.
• Facilitate the annual transportation of over $15 million in local food within the first 2 years of occupancy.
• Grow Vermont’s diversified farm economy and local food sovereignty.
• Improve farm efficiency and business viability with access to aggregation, fulfillment, and distribution services.
• Provide 4 different types (dry, refrigerated, root, & frozen) of storage space for farms and community partners to increase the shelf life of perishable products and decrease duplicative infrastructure.
• Be a model for large-scale, energy-efficient agricultural infrastructure.

The Food Hub will

• Increase market access for more than 100 farms and food producers across Vermont.
• Facilitate local food delivery to over 500 market locations in VT & NH.
• Increase the consistency of CAE’s ability to provide local food to schools, colleges, and hospitals across Vermont and western NH.
• Provide the greater Hardwick area and Northeast Kingdom region with access to a new community space.
• Create a centralized location to aggregate and store food and supplies for times of emergency, a need which has been clearly identified by recent flooding.
   

FOOD HUB CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS PHOTOS

All photographs by Kelly Bogel Stokes.