Kate Collier (the owner of Feast) and Marisa Vrooman are in the early stages of planning a food hub for Charlottesville. Much like Horse and Buggy Produce, the idea is to serve as a central buying and distribution point for farms and consumers in the Charlottesville area. This helps small farms and consumers by providing the legwork for getting local food on a local eater’s tables.
Kate and Marisa are still writing their grant proposals, but I’m sure they will be curious to hear your thoughts.
[via NBC29]
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Tagged as: buying, Feast, Food, food hub, Local, localvore, services
I ask seriously: what’s wrong with Horse and Buggy Produce that we need something very much like it but not it?
@1: It’s called competition and it is one of the principles upon which our capitalistic society is based. Not only should this help drive the cost of goods down, but it should also increase the quality of the goods offered.
Seriously, who needs buggy produce? and do we all really need anything a horse produces.
Just saying
They need a gimmick… perhaps call it Lady Godiva Produce and have naked delivery people and drivers. Or try the Fawlty Towers approach and just throw the stuff at their customers and shout at them. I would love that, even more than naked.
I liked this back when it was called a grocery store.
It’s Marisa Vrooman, not Voorman. She’s old-school Cville. NBC29 has it wrong in one part of their article, but they get it right later on.
@6 – fixed.
@5 – i think the issue is that many of our local grocery stores do not offer local produce or meat. i THINK. i see how this will help small farmers, but would ask the ladies to expound a little but about what it does for us the consumers. i know i would LOVE a hub that has all kinds of local beef and pork and chicken in one convienent spot!
that said, i worry about the possibility of getting civic funding for such a thing when the economy is so tight – esp from Albemarle County when it’s having such issues with budget. maybe the anonymous donor who thinks we need fake turf fields will change his mind and toss the cash in this direction?
/wishing ‘em lots of luck!
@8 – the good fake turf fields are actually extremely nice to play sports on and require a lot less upkeep than your grass fields (which are crap in this town anyway)
The article notes only that there would be a way for local producers to get food/items to local community organizations (JABA is the example). It mentions “your dinner table” in the first paragraph but then describes something that seems to have nothing at all to do with individual people’s dinner tables.
They’re also seeking government funds to set it up. If it’s to be a capitalist, competitive, money-making venture they should start it up on their own. If it’s to be a system for getting local food to organizations like JABA that feed local people in need and also helps support small local food producers at the same time; then I’d certainly be in favor of considering government funds to help get it going.
Hey Hoo, I do all the grocery shopping and ALL the cooking in our family!
See you tonight by the way. If the Hoos can’t beat Dongwood we are in TROUBLE.
I’m all about more local food distribution thingees. But between CSA and co-ops and food hubs and whatnot, I get confused. Let’s just call them all slow food delivery.
If this thing is open to consumers, one way it could be better than the subscription services is by allowing you to pick out what you want, when you want it. I don’t ever want collard greens, so I wouldn’t have to buy any of that. And I could check out the quality, and decide if I like the look of the produce. With the subscription, you get it anyway. Kinda sounds like the city market, now that I think about it.
@8 – You been to the C-Ville Mkt lately? They offer a lot of local produce as well as some local meat products. In any event, if you want local organic meat you should go to the Organic Butcher.
Where is Horse and Buggy anyways? Do they have a storefront?
Um @9, you might want to research this a bit more. It’s pretty 50/50 as far as which is better. Fake turf fields are preferable to bossy athletic directors who have big dreams and don’t want to work too hard to maintain their grass fields. Jury’s still out on this one, but the big athletic donations aren’t… They’re gonna get what they want, but in the meantime the arts programs are gonna tank… And go figure, Pam Moran was in marching band in high school and in college, but doesn’t have a problem forcing the unpopular strings director at a local middle school to take over all band classes instead of the long term sub who all the kids loved. Pam is singlehandedly killing the Monticello High School band program.
Whoa. Mom’s white wine drunk again and slandering…