ValleyHUB puts More Healthy Local Food on Southwest Michigan's Plates

What do the Black Owl Café, Bronson Methodist Hospital, Mattawan Creamery, Kaleamazoo Chips, Fuze Kitchen and Bar, and Old Dog Tavern all have in common? They all purchase and serve fresh local produce from Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s ValleyHUB.

ValleyHUB is located at 224 E. Crosstown Parkway at Kalamazoo Valley’s Food Innovation Center in downtown Kalamazoo. The building serves as a food processing and distribution center, helping to get foods from local farms to large scale consumers which also include South Haven Public Schools, Kalamazoo College, PFC Natural Grocery and Deli, and Kalamazoo Valley’s own culinary arts program.

Produce growers who use the food hub include Birdsong Farm, Green Gardens, Schultz Fruitridge Farms and Crisp Country Acres. “Our goal is to get more healthy fresh foods onto more plates in southwest Michigan,” said Food Innovation Center Director Rachel Bair. “There is a big demand for local foods and a need for supply chain support. There has been a gap between institutions like schools and hospitals - who buy a ton of food and want to start purchasing more of it from local sources - and the growers who can supply it to them.” ValleyHUB serves as a link in the supply chain from farm to institution by working with a small group of growers to provide aggregation, minimal processing, and food safety assurance services. “We support the fresh food value chain in southwest Michigan,” said Food Hub and Food Safety Coordinator for Kalamazoo Valley Randall Davis.

“We work with a diverse network of local growers and producers at all levels of experience and scale. We prioritize quality, sustainability and service.” Bronson Food Services Manager Jeff Burnell said, “Partnering with ValleyHUB has been instrumental in Bronson Methodist Hospital’s commitment to local food sourcing. Now our institution can more easily invest our local spend, and serve better quality ingredients for our patients and employees. We recognize that fresh, local produce plays a vital role in healing our patients as well as advancing the health of our communities and our economies.” The food hub also offers many benefits to the community and its farmers and consumers. ValleyHUB’s distribution practices ensure that the customer can always identify the local farm where produce was grown, and a transparent farm-driven pricing system helps make sure more benefits get back to the farm. In addition to being a “food hub,” ValleyHUB is also an urban farm and education center. The urban farm provides unique training opportunities for students enrolled in the college’s culinary arts program. Students work with staff and faculty to learn new and innovative methods for year-round growing and market-test unique specialty items, like the Thai basil and Chinese chrysanthemum sold at Pacific Rim Foods. The training center at ValleyHUB also offers programs in food safety, produce handling, and production methods to help growers and food handlers innovate and succeed, as well as community classes aimed at helping Kalamazoo residents produce more of their own food. “When possible, we seek to create community benefits through our students’ work,” Bair said. “The farm and the food hub do just that. They are venues for students to practice real-world skills while supplementing the Kalamazoo food supply and providing services to local farms and cafeterias.”

Davis emphasized that the intent is not to compete with existing businesses. “The ValleyHUB operation supports our educational programs, and we aim to support other local farms and food businesses,” he said. “Our students get hands-on experience growing, processing, packaging and distributing food in order to help build a better understanding and appreciation around local foods.”

The food hub has been in operation since October 2016. Davis expects business to expand this spring as more area growers and restaurants learn about the services and as local produce comes into season.

For more information about ValleyHUB services or to become a ValleyHUB supplier, email fic@kvcc.edu.