ONLINE - Food Hubs: Giving Local Sustainable Food a Boost

Food hubs are proliferating. But what exactly are they? What are they  for? And why do we need them? 

Broadly speaking, food hubs are places that sit between people who produce food and people who eat it, gathering food from growers and  distributing it either to commercial customers or directly to consumers.  They can fill gaps in local food infrastructure, help consumers find  locally sourced produce, support new forms of food retail, incubate food  enterprises, or create a space for community education and action.

Sustainable food hubs endeavour to apply standards or values  supportive of sustainability principles to their sourcing and how they  operate. They provide an appropriate route to market for  agroecological and ethical growers and makers. (from https://foodresearch.org.uk/publications/food-hubs/)

Martin Yarnit is a freelance writer and  researcher interested in local food initiatives and bottom up democracy.  He studied support for small producers in Italy and the US in 2019 on a  Winston Churchill Memorial Trust funded visit. He played a central role  in creating a cooperatively owned and run village shop and local food  centre in Herefordshire. He is the author of the e-book, Foodlovers'  Bologna.

He's also a founder member of Talk Shop.