As a small - scale farmer , diversity in your marketing scheme can be just as important as having it in the product you grow , elicit or make . If you ’ve work on your tail off atfarmers ’ marketsand yourcommunity - underpin agricultureoperation but you ’re still reach out for more customers , it might be time to scope out another emerging marketing chance in your region .
food for thought hub might very well be the future of intellectual nourishment distribution — and the hobby farmer ’s in to a high - need local - intellectual nourishment mart — according to the2013 National Food Hub Survey , a study of more than 100 U.S. food hub transmit by the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems and the Wallace Center at Winrock International . As mission - driven nutrient collector and distributors , food hubsare progressively connecting rural manufacturer with urban demand for locally grown foods .
As part of a food hub , producers combine their product with others in their neighborhood and sell through one system . Through this method acting , they ’re more and more finding winner . The intellectual nourishment hub is a fairly new conception that has been gain momentum over the past 10 years , and there ’s no cookie - cutter scheme to how they manoeuvre . They appear as both for - profit and nonprofit patronage models , target dissimilar client bases , and extend a diversity of overhaul .
One affair that seems to be clear , though , is that food for thought hubs are an excellent way for small - musical scale farmers to get their product into the hands of eager customers , include those who could be hard to target alone , such as caterers , bakers and restaurants .
According to the bailiwick , more than 76 percent of the food distributed by food hub and 60 percent of the profit they generated came from small- to mid - sized producers , and the numbers in both area are growing , meaning more opportunities for your farm business . Food hubs also tend to keep going sustainably minded producers . Of those surveyed , food for thought hubs ’ top - three requirement for producers were antibiotic - free , chemical - complimentary , and gratuitous - range or eatage - levy products , while their top - three manufacturer preferences were those who practiced constitutional methods ( not necessarily certified ) , were Good Agricultural Practices ( GAP ) certified , and were chemical substance - free or grassfed . Farmers selling through food hubs also tended to have extended growing seasons and more diversified products .
While there ’s still a lot to learn about the body politic of food hubs in the U.S. and a lot of challenges to sweep over ( No . 1 being how to manage growing ) , it ’s becoming increasingly vindicated that food hubs offer a viable fashion for granger to cooperatively and efficiently progress to new customers .
For more detailed findings from the2013 National Food Hub Survey .
