Boundary Food Hub Virtual Grand Opening
By Contributor
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary and the Boundary Community Ventures Association (BCVA) will host a virtual grand opening of the Boundary Food Hub on Saturday, March 20 to celebrate a major milestone toward greater local food security and economic opportunities for regional food producers and processors.
To view the event, go to https://www.facebook.com/boundaryfoodhub.
Attendees will be able to participate by asking questions and providing comments during the Zoom livestream and anyone can view the recording that will be posted on the Boundary Food Hub Facebook page following the event.
The virtual event will include comments from supporters, partner organizations, and features a video with some Boundary processors.
The Food Hub will assist individuals and businesses interested in commercial food production and processing opportunities across the region. It will provide facilities and support services to entrepreneurs who wish to create value-added food products and take their local food production to the next level, growing their businesses and showcasing the bounty the Boundary has to offer.
A shared-use commercial bakery will be the first Food Hub facility slated to open in May in Greenwood. It will feature pie making and processing equipment for a variety of baked goods. Construction of a value-added meat processing facility in Rock Creek is in the planning stages.
The facility will provide cut-and-wrap and co-packing value-added services for meat producers. A community food-safe laboratory to be operated by FoodMetrics Laboratories, through a partnership with the Small Scale Food Processor Association, will be set up in Greenwood.
The lab will allow smaller food producers to meet all required food safety standards to sell their products to commercial buyers, including those in the Hotel/Restaurant/Institutional and Retail markets.
The RDKB is hosting the Boundary Food Hub project which will be owned and operated by the Boundary Community Ventures Assn. This is a new organization created to foster economic ventures best suited to a region-based approach.
The B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries provided an $800,000 grant to purchase food-processing equipment and to cover other start-up costs in partnership with the RDKB and the BCVA.
The BC Food Hub Network helps small-scale businesses access shared food and beverage processing space and equipment to increase their production and sales.
