A community Food Processing Unit (FPU) capable of preserving food using
a variety of preservation techniques will be increasingly essential. A
friend and I attended a Food Processors conference in Poughkeepsie last
March at the Hudson Valley Food Works where, along with touring the
facility, we picked up a number of "lessons learned" about setting up
and running such an enterprise from founders and operators. Also, here
is a good article on the topic from a business perspective:
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/dec2007/sb20071214_603976.htm
Some of the goals our group has identified for a facility in Tompkins
County are:
* Multiple food processing: canning, dehydrating, fermenting,
freezing, etc
* Tie-in with job training programs
* Living wage
* Green building
* Green technologies: preserving techniques & equipment
* Use seasonal surplus from local farmers
* Processors are member-owners, not renters
* Contract pre-season with local farmers
* Share resources (equipment, advertising) with off-site local
preservers
* Certification: USDA, NYS DOH, Organic, Kosher
* Possible Locations: East Hill Plaza, Downtown, South Hill, near IFM
Developing a business plan is the first step and will take a substantial
and sustained effort from a core group of people to put together.
Because of the complexities (some of which Ryan pointed out so well in
his post) of creating a viable FPU and the key need that it addresses, a
few of us have begun the IthaCan Network*, which is a decentralized
model for achieving many of the same goals of the centralized FPU. But
we haven't given up on the larger goal of the FPU and are still
researching the possbilities here. Being able to process local foods in
mass quantities would open a new market for local foods, promote local
farming and add substantially to our community's food security. We see
the IthaCan project as a step along the way and hope that one of the
benefits of the network will be to increase awareness of the need for a
FPU in the larger community.
*In a nutshell, the IthaCan project is a network of home food
processors. The primary goal is to train trainers to build a grassroots
knowledge base for local home-based food processing. At present, we
have 40 participants signed up and will be launching our first IthaCan
project this June. If anyone is interested in participating, let me know.
-- Katie Q-J
Ryan Hottle wrote:
> Dear Katie, Elan, Tom, et al,
>
> I would be happy to gather regarding setting up a meeting on this most
> important topic of food preservation.
>
> I think Katie's idea of doing a general presentation on the importance of
> food preservation with a short demonstration is an excellent idea. I would
> be happy to prepare a short presentation on the subject matter, but think it
> would probably be best to find someone (else or also) who has extensive
> experience in this arena to present.
>
> My vision is a large, well-designed Community Kitchen and Cannery facility
> located in a central area of Ithaca (perhaps somewhat close to the community
> gardens) that would be publicly accessible and which would also be
> responsible for preserving a large amount of food purchased exclusively from
> local growers for an emergency food bank that could be used for peak oil
> preparedness. Contracts could be signed with local farmers in advance of
> the growing season such that it would guarantee local growers a solid market
> for their produce. This has the potential of vastly increasing demand for
> local and sustainably grown produce. The Emergency Food Storage could be
> cycled through by selling the 2-3 year old food to the public at competitive
> prices in order to help pay for the project or incorporated into local food
> bank programs. The facility could/should incorporate solar hot water,
> methane digester, and other RE technologies where applicable and a
> dehydration system that captures and uses the waste heat. Cornell's and
> Ithaca College's departments of architecture, engineering, business, and
> city and regional planning could be brought into the project as well as the
> Ag Extension agency, Greenstar, Taitem Engineering, Renovus, Performance
> Systems Contracting, Snug Planet, local food banks, non-profits, etc. in
> order to define and develop a solid social, structural, and business plan
> for the facility.
>
> A fairly decent discussion of the factors that need be considered regarding
> setting up a Community Cannery can be found here:
>
> http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/7280/1/Resurgence-of-Community-Canneries.html
>
> I'm really excited about this concept. Though this will obviously require a
> significant investment of resources, energy, labor, and organizing,
> designing and building such a facility will undoubtedly be worth it
> considering the current world food crisis that will invariably cause much
> suffering right here in Tompkins County if we remain apathetic to the clear
> and undeniable information that is coming to us, especially in regards to
> peak oil and the utter unsustainability of centralized industrial
> agriculture. In five years time, everyone will admit that such ambitious
> projects were certainly worth the cost. The question is whether we act now
> when we have the best resources to do so...
>
> Ryan D. Hottle
>
>
--
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