As federal cuts hit the region, Hardwick's new food hub means millions in market access for local farms

After years of work, the Food Hub, a new facility in Hardwick that will expand markets for local farms and food producers, has opened. The Food Hub is operated by Hardwick-based nonprofit, the Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE). Now products from over 100 local farms and food businesses will pass through the Food Hub each week on their way from farms to markets across Vermont and beyond. CAE operates several programs aimed at increasing the accessibility of local food, increasing the viability of local agriculture, and expanding connections between the community and agriculture. In addition to programs, CAE provides infrastructure at both the Food Hub (at 325 VT Rt 15 in the Yellow Barn complex) and the Vermont Food Venture Center (140 Junction Rd). CAE also owns Atkins Field (140 Granite St.), a 15-acre field and forest property where the Hardwick Farmers Market takes place and local communities gather to grow, learn, harvest, experiment, and celebrate. At the Food Hub, CAE will offer food storage to producers in four different temperature controlled zones including dry, cold, frozen, and root crop. CAE manages a local food logistics & transportation service called Farm Connex, which moves nearly $13 million dollars of local food annually from farms to markets. Farm Connex was formerly housed in a small warehouse in the Hardwick Industrial Park, a space that became too small to keep up with its demand. The new Food Hub will provide Farm Connex and the producers it works with the ability to expand. The Food Hub also includes a space where CAE envisions increasing connections between the community and agriculture. A 700 square foot meeting room with a full kitchen is equipped to accommodate classes, workshops, meetings, and other activities. 

Increased access to markets and infrastructure provides a positive impact for farms and producers at a time when federal funding cuts for local food purchasing begins to impact the region. Recently, future funding opportunities for CAE’s Produce to Pantries program were eliminated by the USDA. This program linked local growers with food pantry sites increasing the accessibility of local produce. With this loss in federal support, infrastructure like the Food Hub will have an even more central role ensuring the connection between local growers and pantries is not eliminated because of the ability to aggregate and store local food for pantries in larger quantities. Many smaller pantry sites do not have long-term food storage. CAE received federal funding for a portion of the Food Hub from the Northern Borders Regional Commission and from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets through the Dairy Business Innovation Center. This support was critical in leveraging private philanthropic support for the project. The federal funding cuts are still impacting this project. CAE anticipated $134,000 from the Inflation Reduction Act for solar in 2025, which has an uncertain status in the current federal funding landscape.

CAE designed the Food Hub with energy efficiency and the environment in mind. CAE’s refrigeration system uses CO2 instead of freon, which does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the scale of refrigeration at the Food Hub allows for heat recapture to occur, taking what would otherwise be waste heat from the refrigeration compressors and turning it into the primary heat source for the facility. Other investments include heat pump hot water heaters, high efficiency wood pellet boilers, and a 248,000 kWh solar array that CAE is planning to install later this year. In total, CAE will invest $4 million dollars into the new space. 

The Food Hub is a component of the Hardwick Yellow Barn and Business Accelerator project. This was a multi-year project facilitated by many partners including the Town of Hardwick, Northeast Kingdom Development Corporation, Northeastern Vermont Development Association, Jasper Hill Farm, and CAE. CAE will utilize half of the new 25,000 square foot facility while Jasper Hill Farm will use the other half. The adjacent Yellow Barn was renovated and Cabot Creamery opened a new retail outlet in the barn last summer. 

For more information please contact Jon Ramsay, the Executive Director at CAE. jon@caevt.org 802 233 0228

For more information regarding storage at the Food Hub or CAE’s Farm Connex service, please email farmconnex@caevt.org CAE is planning to begin offering storage to producers in April.