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County explores regional food hub and ecommerce platform to bolster local producers
Summary
Staff described a regional food-hub concept and online platform intended to help small producers sell to consumers and pickup locations across the region; staff is exploring nonprofit partners and grant funding (Tobacco Commission, USDA) to support the effort.
Nina told the board the food-hub concept evolved from local community meetings into a regional initiative after staff heard interest from non-local producers and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance began partnering on infrastructure planning. "We envision this as an online platform where it removes the need for producers to have their individual marketing presence," Nina said.
Board members asked whether Campbell County had sufficient producer volume to sustain a hub; Nina said Campbell alone currently lacks the scale and staff is pursuing grants and a host nonprofit to manage logistics. She cited Tobacco Commission and USDA Rural Development as likely funding sources for initial ecommerce or education components. Supervisors supported pursuing regional partners rather than making the county economic-development office the ongoing logistics manager.
