In conjunction with the Davidson County Office of NC Cooperative Extension Service, the City of Lexington is working on a feasibility study for a "Food Hub" in Lexington. You might be asking yourself: "What is a Food Hub?" Many farmers and ranchers, especially smaller operations, are challenged by the lack of distribution and processing infrastructure of appropriate scale that would give them access to retail, institutional and commercial food service markets; where demand for local and regional foods continues to rise. Food hubs can help. By offering a combination of production, aggregation, distribution and marketing services, food hubs make it possible for producers to gain entry into new and additional markets that would be difficult or impossible to access on their own.
An example of a "Food Hub" that is working in our area is Pilot Mountain Pride in Surry County. Pilot Mountain Pride has helped over 90 farms sell and distribute their products to institutional buyers such as schools, hospitals, grocery stores and community supported agriculture.
The City of Lexington and the Davidson County Office of NC Cooperative Extension Service are investigating the establishment of a centralized local food hub for area farmers' locally grown products. As a part of this project, we are conducting a community assessment of area fruit and vegetable farmers to determine the demand and participation levels for a local food hub. Research will determine the potential number of farmer participants and the potential types and amounts of produce that may be supplied. It will also assess market demands for establishing a sales and marketing intermediary for participating farmers and determine the necessary infrastructure for establishing an aggregate sales and marketing center.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this important survey. As a local farmer or someone considering a farming operation, your input is critical! Your responses will help the project to best serve farmers and the community. You may take the survey by completing it online or by printing it out and mailing to the address below. Thank you for your participation in this important survey!
Take the Local Food Hub Survey - FILL OUT ONLINE
Take the Local Food Hub Survey - PRINT OUT AND MAIL
If you prefer to mail your survey, please return to:
Amy-Lynn Albertson, Commercial Horticulture Extension Agent
Davidson County Cooperative Extension
Davidson County Center
301 E Center St
Lexington, NC 27292
