Real Food Hub retail store, processing kitchen expands local access to North Country farms
WINTHROP | In our rural region of northern New York, where access to local food is often limited by remoteness, transportation costs, a short growing season, and other challenges, a new food hub will help bridge the gap between local farms and consumers. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been awarded a grant to build a processing and retail facility that will expand local food access as well as markets for North Country farms and food businesses.
Led by Cherie and Dan Whitten of Whitten Family Farm in Winthrop and the ADK Food Hub in Tupper Lake, the project will create a NY 20-C–licensed retail store and processing kitchen in Winthrop, called the Real Food Hub. The $520,640 project is largely supported by a $468,576 grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Food Access Expansion Program, with construction slated to begin this spring.
“We are thrilled to be establishing this new food hub with the Whittens, who are an indispensable force in our local food system,” said Jon Ignatowski, ANCA’s manager of food systems business. “The Real Food Hub is going to catalyze the local food economy in the northwest corner of our region, resulting in more market opportunities for small farms and increased food access for residents in four counties.
“This project will reduce food insecurity and significantly increase the resiliency of our food system,” he said. “We are grateful to New York’s Ag and Markets for recognizing this critical need in our region and for providing funding to support this effort.”
Read the full story in the Sun Community News.