About the NC Food Hub Collaborative

The NC Food Hub Collaborative is a group of long-standing nonprofit, mostly-rural food hubs across North Carolina that collectively support each other’s growth and sustainability. While each hub has unique models, markets, and means, they have a common goal: to build a stronger local NC food system for all.

The goal of the NC Food Hub Collaborative project is to be a sustainable, coordinated effort that contributes to a thriving and more equitable local food system. Local food is not only the most viable option to increase fresh food access, but also a means to create positive economic, social, environmental and health outcomes

History of the NC Food Hub Collaborative

Food hubs in the NC Food Hub Collaborative are existing food hubs that have proven to have staying power in their communities. The average "age" of a food hub in the network is 8 years. In 2020, Resourceful Communities formalized the NC Food Hub Collaborative, bringing together 8 existing food hubs throughout North Carolina to grow their impacts, both individually and collectively. Food hubs in the NC Food Hub Collaborative are existing food hubs that have proven to have staying power in their communities. The average "age" of a food hub in the network is 8 years.

About Resourceful Communities

A specialized program of The Conservation Fund, Resourceful Communities supports a network of community groups, faith-based organizations, small towns and resource providers. The triple bottom line is the foundation of our work: environmental stewardship, social justice and sustainable economic development. Rather than addressing community challenges as isolated issues, this integrated approach nets sustainable, comprehensive improvements. Our effective combination of direct financial support, skills building, and networking and resource connections nurtures real change where it’s needed the most.

IMPORTANCE OF FOOD HUBS

  • By definition, food hubs serve to bridge the gap between food producers and consumers. Thus, a significant part of the work of all food hubs entails engaging with growers and producers to secure products to sell. This might include providing training to strengthen the capacities and skills of growers and suppliers.

  • Food hubs largely purchase from small and mid-sized farmers. Collecting and moving crops from the farm to markets or distribution centers is a key component of the work of many food hubs. This is true even for those hubs which serve only as brokers, never actually receiving or handling product themselves, but which must still ensure that farmers deliver to customers.

  • For those hubs which actively aggregate and distribute products, an appropriately outfitted physical plant is critical to their work. They must have the space and equipment to store, process, pack, palletize, and perhaps host retail space to sell the food they collect. Hubs also need facilities for other functions, including administrative offices and event spaces.

  • One of the key benefits that many food hubs provide to smaller producers is identifying and securing qualified buyers. Hubs sell to a wide range of customers including wholesalers, institutions (hospitals, schools, etc.), restaurants, grocery stores, retail customers, and other food hubs with larger capacity.

  • An important management function of many hubs is coordinating supply chain logistics. Business management services can go beyond what is required for the hub’s own operations, to include a variety of services, such as accounting and production planning, to external partner producers.

  • Food hubs secure capital and financing from a diverse array of sources, including public and private grants, bank loans, personal contributions by founders/managers, and individual donations.

  • Some food hubs go beyond selling produce as supplied by growers, to processing food to create value-added products which they then sell under their own brand. The types of products and services that a hub can offer are limited only by their imagination and the willingness of markets to pay.