REGIONAL FOOD HUB NETWORK MEETING AGENDA

The second meeting of the Regional Food Hub Network
This event has reached full enrollment.
Building Regional Food Systems:
Regional Food Hubs and the California Food Hub Network
Asilomar, Wednesday January 26th 2011
Scripps Room
9:00 am to 4:00 pm

BACKGROUND

Over the past 10 years, non-profits, grower cooperatives, and small businesses have developed marketing efforts to bridge localized small scale producers with established distribution chains in order to meet the demand for “Locally Grown” foods. These aggregation and distribution centers are diverse in ownership, scale, and strategies, but they share common objective of providing a mechanism for growers to access markets they otherwise have trouble reaching and for communities to access foods they otherwise have trouble getting. At the same time, established distributors have been responding to the “Locally Grown” demand with their own efforts by incorporating more producers and developing their own marketing strategies.

This meeting brings Regional Food Hub operators and developers together to discuss shared objectives and needs among themselves and with strategic partners including distributors, institutional buyers, and public agencies. We hope the outcome of this meeting is a step towards establishing an association or network of regional food hub operators that work together to share resources and information.

In order to foster effective food systems reform, we invite you- growers, food hub managers, wholesalers, academics, public agency representatives, local food advocates - to learn about existing and emerging hubs, the potential benefits of an association of food hubs, and help us further refine the vision to ensure the broadest level of support from a wide sector of stakeholders. Please save the date and plan to join us on January 26th at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove.

The Regional Food Hub Advisory Council has developed a Vision Statement and draft Strategic Implementation Plan for a Network of Regional Food Hubs in order to increase the availability and access to local and regionally produced agricultural products.

NOTE: This is an ‘invitation only’ event for stakeholders. There is no cost to attend. Please direct your questions to Luis Sierra at LSierra@cccd.coop or call 530-297-1032

AGENDA

9:00-9:30 - Meet and Greet; Registration
9:30-9:45 - Welcome and overview, Luis Sierra, CCCD
9:45-10:30 - Making the case for Regional Food Hubs and a Network: Mapping & overview of RFH-Network vision (Presenter: Sharon Cech, Center for Food and Justice)
10:30-11:30 - Supply Chain Panel Including Farmer (Good Humus Farm), Regional Food Hub (Soil Born Farms), Wholesaler (Veritable Vegetable), and Customer (Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op)
(Moderator: David Visher, UC SAREP)
11:30-12:00 - Perspectives from a Food Hub Manager
(Presenter: Tony Serrano, ALBA Organics)
12:00-12:30 - Participant introduction roundtable
12:30-1:40 - Lunch
1:40-1:50 - Overview of afternoon session
1:50-2:10 - Review of Regional Food Hub and Network Definitions
2:10-3:05 Small Group Discussion on RFH and Network functions
3:05-3:45 - Plenary discussion on forming a Network
3:45-4:00 - Concluding remarks and next steps

LOGISTICS

Driving directions to Asilomar Conference Grounds
Area map of the Asilomar Conference Grounds
Breakfast: We recommend you arrive with a full belly. You can purchase breakfast at Crocker Dining Hall at Asilomar Conference Grounds from 7:30-9:00 am for $9.53 (tax included); coffee and light pastries available at registration
Lunch: will be provided for you, plus coffee and snacks in the afternoon

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Background Information: Please review the following two documents:
California Network of Regional Food Hubs: A Vision Statement and Strategic Implementation Plan (12MB)
Notes from First Regional Food Hub Network Meeting on Aug 24, 2010 at Occidental College in Los Angeles

Additional Info Bites: Visit the links below to see how the Regional Food Hub concept is aligned with other efforts across the state and nationwide.

The 'Know Your Farmer Know Your Food' blog and the USDA Blog feature a 4 part series about food hubs. The first two posts are here and here. The USDA blog is also circulating them via twitter at @usdagov. Washington Post also featured a piece about a developing food hub in Northern Virginia.

USDA Rural Development: The November/December issue of USDA Rural Cooperatives Magazine (pages 20-23) highlights Food Hubs initiated by producers and consumers and the special role that food cooperatives play. GROWN Locally Cooperative in Iowa and The Wedge consumer food co-op are among the case studies examined.

Capay Valley Growers: The Sacramento Bee posted an article on this business owned by more than 30 farmers that markets through a 'bundled CSA' marketing strategy.

ALBA Organics: is a licensed produce distributor working to support the sales and sales training needs of ALBA farmers by providing access to on-farm coolers, warehouse, and delivery infrastructure. ALBA Organics connects its customers with the highest-quality product available in season, and offers the opportunity to support small-scale, limited-resource and beginning farmers.

Central Coast Agriculture Network is directing several projects to strengthen the local and regional food system. Through its City Farm project, CCAN is working with the City of San Luis Obispo to develop an Ag Master Plan and to manage 25 acres of prime farm land within the city limits. CCAN is working with Cal Poly's Ag Business Dept to conduct a feasibility study of the ability to provide locally grown food for institutional buyers including examination of growing, aggregation, processing and distribution capability to enable the establishment of a local and regional food hub. CCAN works collaboratively with the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute in its Regional Food Hub program and with Roots of Change to knit together a sustainable regional food system for California. CCAN hosts a user friendly website to encourage sourcing of locally grown food and Know Your Farmer initiatives

Tierra Miguel: This document describes the San Diego Growers' Market, aiming to develop viable supply chains, directly connecting farmers with consumers via wholesale distributing at a permanent market location.

National Good Food Network: Webinar on "Leveraging Existing Infrastructure for Significant Food System Change: Food Hubs, Regional Distribution, Farm to School, and more"

UEPI: Occidental College’s Urban & Environmental Policy Institute/Center for Food and Justice is working to develop Regional Food Hubs as an economically empowering model, significantly as they promote 1) product reliability, variety and strategic distribution, and 2) shared costs and knowledge.

This event is supported by California Center for Cooperative Development, Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (Center for Food and Justice), and USDA-Rural Development