GREENFIELD, Ind.— The Hancock County office of Purdue Extension is conducting a study to assess the need for and feasibility of a Food Hub for Central Indiana. Farmer input on this issue is being requested and three meetings are being held during June in Hancock, Henry, and Hamilton counties.

Meeting dates, all set for 6pm, have been scheduled for farmers to provide input and ask questions. Basic background on food hubs will be discussed and farmer input on key aspects of food hubs such as site and location, volume and foods produced, and food safety will be discussed. The following is the schedule:  

•Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at the Hamilton County Purdue Extension office- 2003 Pleasant Street in

Noblesville, Ind.

•Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at the Hancock County Purdue Extension office-802 North Apple Street in Greenfield, Ind.

•Thursday, June 7, 2012 at the Henry County Purdue Extension office- 1201 Race Street,  in New Castle, Ind.

“While not an “official” USDA definition, I think that a food hub is a centrally located facility with a business management structure (for) the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products,” began Roy Ballard, Purdue Extension Educator, ANR, Hancock County. “Food hubs come in many sizes and shapes with a variety of services and management systems,” he explained saying that food hubs are much more than farmers markets or retail stores and can be “bricks and mortar” structures  or even virtual ‘hubs’ where online ordering and farmer to customer collaboration and delivery is coordinated. 

“Still others (types of food hubs) could include both an online and a physical facility with both retail and wholesale transaction possibilities,” Ballard added.

Ballard is one of the major forces behind the central Indiana food hub effort and authored the USDA Specialty Crop Block grant awarded in 2011 that will provide funding for the current feasibility study.  

“Prior to that, over the past six years or so, I have served in a facilitator role for the Hancock Harvest Council, a core group of farmers in Hancock and adjacent counties who are seeking ways to connect farmers and consumers in the Central Indiana region. The Food Hub effort is an outgrowth of that focus,” Ballard described.

Judy Swift, business development officer with the Greenfield Banking Company and Greenfield City Council at-large member has been involved with the Hancock Harvest Council since the beginning and works regularly with Ballard. Swift is not a farmer, but comes to the project as an interested consumer and as a public servant that understands her own community. “I have realized that those who need good nutritional food not only cannot get it due to cost, but they also don’t know how to cook it,” she explained. Swift added that she believes a food hub type center will help facilitate access to Indiana-raised, affordable and fresh food.  “The food hub will in time take care of these issues, I think,” Swift pointed out.

Ballard wants to encourage all types of agricultural producers to consider growing fruits, vegetables, meat, honey, meat, flowers, herbs, eggs or a variety of other raw or value added farm products because he feels even farmers who do not yet grow these kinds of crops can realize marketing efficiency and risk management strategies. “The food hub concept is an exciting one that seems to have the possibility of bridging some gaps in our current regional food system model, providing various consumers access to local foods and providing opportunities for farmers to remain profitable and sustain their farm operations. It would seem to be a win-win-win prospect,” said Ballard. He feels that conventional grain or livestock farmers may want to consider diversifying their operations to meet the growing demand for local foods. He also believes that this concept can work when a family is struggling with bringing back a younger  member to the farm. “My feeling is that farmers, today more than ever, need to find ways to collaborate and provide their own marketing and production advantages. I see the potential of the food hub as being a focus of farmer collaboration in the region,” Ballard said.  

“I would encourage anyone-farmer or consumer- with an interest in building a stronger more vital and dynamic regional food system in Central Indiana to take part in the upcoming meetings and the ongoing feasibility study. Now is the time to learn and to have feedback into the process,” Ballard encouraged. 

If interested farmers or stakeholders are not able to make the meeting, they are encouraged to complete the written survey online available at www3.ag.purdue.edu/counties/hancock/ For more information, contact Roy Ballard, Purdue Extension educator for Hancock County, a 317-462-1113 or rballard@purdue.edu or a local extension educator.