Milestone

County Food Hub opens for business

This past Friday, a groundbreaking event took place at Sophiasburgh Central School (SCS) for its newest inhabitants, the Prince Edward County Food Hub (PECFH), and one could tell the significance of the event just by looking around at who was in the room for the announcement. From dignitaries to council members, the momentum of the newlysaved SCS and the PECFH can’t be pegged on one person. According to County Food Hub Chair, Mike Farrell, it was the effort of an entire team—a force, if you will, of positive energy pulling these projects toward success. Is there money needed as well? Absolutely, and the community stepped up, digging deep into their pockets to make  sure both projects met their financial deadlines.

“So much has been done since we received the green light to implementing our mission to create a food sustainability and service hub in a rural K to 8 school, with a potentially replicable model for rural schools across our great province and our great nation. A number of government organizations have seen this as not just a one-off. There’s a potential here that’s replicable and that makes me very excited,” says Farrell.

Farrell stated that technically the PECFH is open for business now, but the corporate kitchen and other services won’t be ready until June of this year. The focus currently is to reach out to local and regional agri-food start-ups as well as already established businesses and try to drum up some interest for the use of the space. Farrell also announced that PECFH is developing a partnership between the school board and the Hastings Prince Edward Health Unit on a student food literacy program as well as culinary advisory committee to advise the food hub on everything from operations to menu.

It will be a unique, symbiotic relationship that will eventually exist between SCS and the PECFH. The food hub will be built and exist within an active school. The expected date for the commercial kitchens to be ready for rentals is June, but Farrell admits the target is still moving slightly. The event on Friday marked the end of years of planning and an intense nine months of fundraising that saw $800,000 being raised. It also saw PECFH officially acquire the 5,800 square feet of space from SCS, which with the downsizing had considered the space to be surplus. Back in September of 2018, the five-year lease signed between PECFH and the Hasting Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB) made the sure the school would stay active, and the food hub would co-exist in a portion of the west wing of the school, which includes five classrooms and some storage space. The lineup of speakers at Friday’s event was also impressive. Councillor Bill Roberts was the emcee and welcomed Food To Share founder Glen Wallis, realtor Elizabeth Crombie, school board chair Shannon Binder, Mayor Steve Ferguson, MPP Todd Smith and even read a note from Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis, who could not attend but wanted to make sure his sentiment was felt.

“This was made possible by the vision and persistence of the hub board, the remarkable generosity of donors from across all County sectors who stepped up to the plate in a very timely fashion and from the collaborative efforts of the municipal, provincial and federal partners. We demonstrated a readiness to stand together with the community in true non-partisan fashion to lend their voices to a very, very good idea. This idea took root and became reality because of these combined efforts,” wrote Ellis.

Ellis went on to say that this unique relationship between SCS and the PECFH is a model for rural education and finding new ways of utilizing a school’s resources for the benefit of the community, its health and its educational resources.

Back row (L-R): Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board Chair Shannon Binder, Elizabeth Crombie, Councillor Bill Roberts, MPP Todd Smith, Sophiasburgh students Bethany and Alison and Mayor Steve Ferguson. Front (L-R): County Food Hub Vice-Chair Todd Foster and County Food Hub Chair Mike Farrell.

MPP Todd Smith said a few words and began by hinting that in the beginning there may have been what seemed to him like lofty goals but was happily proved wrong. “These guys were like a dog with a bone on this and were relentless. This has the potential to be such a catalyst for growth in our community. There are so many great innovators in this community doing so many outstanding and interesting things, but I’m really looking forward to see what’s happening here a couple of years from now,” said Smith.

Mayor Ferguson is thrilled with how much of a success story this has been for the County.

“The Hub and this initiative illustrates what Prince Edward County does so very, very well. Whereby groups of people gather, a need is identified, resources are solicited and collected, plans developed, and plan executed. I can’t tell you how important it is to the board, to the province, and let’s not forget the kids who will still be a part of this school,” said Ferguson.

Elizabeth Crombie spoke on behalf of the donors and said she wasn’t surprised by the number of donors and the total amount raised.”For those of who much is given, much is expected. Great ideas attract friends and their capital,” said Crombie.

Food to Share founder Glen Wallis also shared that his group would be the inaugural food hub tenants, using the space as headquarters, storage, a prep kitchen and distribution point. Wallis also explained that Food to Share currently prepares all the meals for the foodbanks in the area as well as distributing what has been received from local farms. Wallis says that he also looks forward hosting cooking classes for both children and adults in the new space.