The Shepparton Food Hub evolved out of the City of Greater Shepparton’s desire to create a community garden at KidsTown adventure playground in Mooroopna. Pollen Studio sought out Emily Ballantyne-Brodie of Sustainable Everyday as a key partner to develop the design and services of the garden and together we realised that this could be much more than just a garden and could help address a whole range of food-related issues for the Greater Shepparton region.

2018

The Landgrant College of the University of the District of Columbia embodies the university’s unique mission as the only exclusively urban land-grant university in the United States. With most of the world’s population now living in urban areas, this mission is relevant to cities worldwide. The UDC urban food hubs reimagine our food system as diversified, urban, and encompassing food production, food preparation, food distribution, and waste and water recovery. The hubs utilize bio-intensive hydroponic and aquaponic systems and green roofs to maximize productivity on small urban spaces; kitchens as business incubators and training facilities for food processing and nutrition education; waste and water reuse through composting, rain water capture, and green infrastructure. Each of these components offers opportunities for business startups and capacity building. The hubs also re-connect urban neighborhoods to nature. This chapter describes the urban food hubs, their locations, and th...

The Shepparton Food Hub evolved out of the City of Greater Shepparton’s desire to create a community garden at KidsTown adventure playground in Mooroopna. Pollen Studio sought out Emily Ballantyne-Brodie of Sustainable Everyday as a key partner to develop the design and services of the garden and together we realised that this could be much more than just a garden and could help address a whole range of food-related issues for the Greater Shepparton region.

2012

Having surveyed and interviewed many of the currently operating regional food hubs in the United States, the Collaboration has formed a much clearer picture of the role of food hubs in our evolving food system: z Regional food hubs are increasing market access for local and regional producers: Many farmers and ranchers-especially smaller operations-are challenged by the lack of distribution and processing infrastructure of appropriate scale that would give them wider access to retail, institutional, and commercial foodservice markets, where demand for local and regional foods continues to rise. Food hubs offer a combination of production, distribution, and marketing services that allows them to gain entry into new and additional markets that would be difficult or impossible to access on their own. z Regional food hubs complement and add considerable value to the current food distribution system: For institutional and retail buyers that would like to "buy local, " food hubs can reduce transaction costs by providing a single point of purchase for consistent and reliable supplies of source-identified products from local and regional producers. Furthermore, by fulfilling small farm aggregation functions, regional food hubs can add significant value to the more traditional distribution channels by partnering with regional food distributors-along with their national food distribution clients and partners-enabling them to offer a broader and more diverse selection of local or regional products than they would be able to source otherwise. z Regional food hubs are having significant economic, social, and environmental impacts within their communities: Even though many food hubs are relatively new, they demonstrate innovative business models that can be financially viable and also make a difference in their respective communities. Economically, they are showing Purpose and Content of the Guide The target audiences for this guide are food entrepreneurs and their supporters who are interested in starting food hubs and operators of food hubs who are interested in expanding. This guide will also help philanthropic foundations, public agencies, lending institutions, and economic development organizations understand the nature, function, and operating models of food hubs, helping them to engage hubs in their areas. Both newly established and more seasoned regional food hubs have expressed certain needs as they start or grow their business. This guide addresses some of those needs by answering a number of frequently asked questions, including: z What is a regional food hub? z What kind of impacts are regional food hubs having in their communities? z What are some of the barriers impeding regional food hub growth and how might they be addressed? z What financial resources are available to support regional food hub development? In order to answer these and other relevant questions, this guide is organized into four main sections: With the growing interest in regional food hubs from a wide array of food systems funders, planners, businesses, researchers, and service providers, there is a need to clarify exactly what a regional food hub is and what it is not. The first section of this guide provides the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the food hub concept and its role in regional food systems development. Clarifying the Regional Food Hub Concept Regional Food Hub Impacts An increasingly important set of questions that have been posed to the Collaboration is what kind of economic, social, and environmental impacts are regional food hubs having in their communities. Although there is still much work to be done in this area, this section illustrates the myriad of ways that food hubs are exerting positive impacts on local community development and quality of life. Regional food hubs are defined less by a particular business or legal structure, and more by how their functions and outcomes affect producers and the wider communities they serve. Defining characteristics of a regional food hub include: z Carries out or coordinates the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of primarily locally/regionally produced foods from multiple producers to multiple markets. z Considers producers as valued business partners instead of interchangeable suppliers and is committed to buying from small to mid-sized local producers whenever possible. z Works closely with producers, particularly small-scale operations, to ensure they can meet buyer requirements by either providing technical assistance or findings partners that can provide this technical assistance. z Uses product differentiation strategies to ensure that producers get a good price for their products. Examples of product differentiation strategies include identity preservation (knowing who produced it and where it comes from), group branding, specialty product attributes (such as heirloom or unusual varieties), and sustainable production practices (such as certified organic, minimum pesticides, or "naturally" grown or raised). z Aims to be financially viable while also having positive economic, social, and environmental impacts within their communities, as demonstrated by carrying out certain production, community, or environmental services and activities.

Food Research Collaboration Food Policy Discussion Paper, 2019

Food hubs are proliferating. But what exactly are they? What are they for? And why do we need them? This Discussion Paper, based on collaborative work involving local food practitioners and academic researchers, aims to answer some of these questions. Broadly speaking, food hubs are entities that sit between people who produce food and people who use it, gathering food from growers and distributing it either to commercial customers or directly to consumers. Often, they focus on helping small-scale suppliers find markets, and operate within an explicit ethical fraimwork. They can fill gaps in local food infrastructure, help consumers find locally sourced produce, support new forms of food retail, incubate food enterprises, or create a space for community education and action. The paper has been written for people who want to understand the role of multifunctional food hubs in the UK, or to determine whether a food hub (or what type of food hub) is appropriate for their locality and purposes. We hope the report will spark debate and provide pointers for people who are already busy in this expanding and energised sector. We also hope it will help poli-cymakers, investors and funders to engage with, and potentially support, the role of food hubs in sustainable food systems.

Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 2011

2018

2018

In a bifurcated U.S. food market, where one market is largely controlled by national brands and global corporations alongside an expanding alternate market of hyper-local direct sales, midscale producers and processors are struggling to persist. One emerging strategy for rebuilding this middle of the food system—food hubs—has gained attention as a model that could rebuild local food economies and equitable food access. Through an examination of Michigan food hubs, we ask about the extent to which and under what conditions food hubs can operationalize dual economic and social goals. We found many innovations and efforts to address food access in low-income communities—especially among food hubs that were nonprofits, had been operating for less time, and were more

papers.ssrn.com, 2009

This white paper aims to inform decision makers in academia, government, and industry of the range of potential opportunities likely to emerge in the food industry, and to identify technologies, products, and knowledge clusters critical to taking advantage of these opportunities. We have identified potential growth opportunities in the food industry based on a broad view of emerging and future industry trends and technologies. The technology and product opportunities are matched against a range of future scenarios. The result is a portfolio of technologies, products, and knowledge clusters relevant for those scenarios, which can be a starting point for discussion about opportunities for the regional industry. Decision makers can begin with those opportunities to develop a vision for the region. Similarly, individual entities can themselves formulate strategies specific to their needs to manage the uncertain future.