Salvation Farms outlines plan for Morrisville processing hub to turn farm surplus into institutional food

Salvation Farms told the Senate Agriculture panel on March 18 that it has secured a lease on a site in downtown Morrisville and is building a processing hub to collect and minimally process agricultural surplus so local farms can sell seconds and institutions can buy affordable, local produce.

"Our mission is to build resilience in the food system through agricultural surplus management," Kelly Dolan, executive director of Salvation Farms, said in testimony. Dolan said the organization received a $500,000 state appropriation in 2023 to establish the hub, and has also received a grant award from the Northern Borders Regional Commission.

The hub will aggregate farm “seconds” and minimally process products — using individual quick-freeze (IQF) flash-freezing and packaging rather than freeze-drying — so schools, the Department of Corrections, Meals on Wheels programs and charitable food sites can use single-ingredient items with no added sodium or sugar. Kim Lipinski, director of nutrition and wellness at the Central Vermont Council on Aging, said the minimally processed products make it easier for meal programs to meet medically tailored nutrition requirements and reduce labor and cost in production.

Dolan and program staff said internal estimates suggest about 14,300,000 pounds of Vermont-grown produce never leaves farms each year. Salvation Farms’ near-term target is not to capture that entire amount but to scale the Morrisville facility toward roughly 200,000 pounds of throughput within three years, with an initial-year goal in the tens of thousands of pounds (Salvation Farms projected 60,000–70,000 pounds in a first year scenario). Dolan emphasized the facility is intended as a replicable model rather than a single statewide solution.

Farmer testimony described how seconds are produced on working farms and why the market currently discards them. Richard (Richie) Horahan of Cabot Smith Farm said his operation donated 22,000 pounds to Salvation Farms last year and estimated his farm produced nearly a million pounds overall, with roughly 20% left in fields because it failed retail cosmetic standards. Horahan said payment for picking seconds would primarily go toward payroll to make collecting that surplus feasible.

Salvation Farms also emphasized workforce development. The organization has previously run cohorts that trained 10–15 people for food-processing jobs; the Morrisville plan would partner with Working Fields, a temporary staffing organization that places people with barriers to employment, to provide longer six-month placements and nationally accredited food-handling certification. Dolan noted food production is one of the faster-growing employment sectors in the state.

On next steps, Salvation Farms said it has used a portion of the 2023 appropriation for staff time, consultants, architectural design and legal work, and that the Morrisville site is undergoing a review described in testimony as a "national environmental program Act review" before construction estimates will be finalized. The organization also said it is pursuing additional grants and planning a seed-style campaign to support ongoing operations. Salvation Farms noted potential cost shifts tied to tariff changes and compliance with the Build America, Buy America Act, which was listed as a grant condition by one funding partner.

Senators asked for additional data and outcomes: committee members requested follow-up on the UVM study citation that Dolan referenced about food insecurity and on historical placement rates from earlier workforce cohorts. Dolan and staff agreed to supply those details.

The presentation combined program background (Salvation Farms’ history working with the Vermont Food Bank, the Food Venture Center in Hardwick and prior facilities) with operational specifics about processing methods, projected throughput and partnerships with institutional buyers. No formal committee action or vote was taken during the testimony.

Salvation Farms requested continued support as it completes environmental review and construction planning and scales operations. Dolan said the project’s goals are to reduce waste on farms, increase local food access for institutions and create employment pathways for people with barriers to work.

Ending: Committee members thanked the presenters and noted they would follow up on requested data. Salvation Farms said it would keep the committee informed as the project advances and when construction and launch dates are set.