Conversation with Greg Heller of American Communities Trust

In our conversation with Greg Heller of American Communities Trust, we had a completely different model of food hub revealed to us than the stereotypical linear model that is touted by the USDA and the Wallace Center. Instead of understanding food hubs as entities that take the produce from the farmer to the consumer through a new middleman, Mr. Heller understands food hubs as a clustering of the local activities that are found within an area. In other words, a food hub brings together the already locally established food economy and consolidates its activities under one area. Blake & I were very excited to hear this definition of a food hub since one of our major concerns regarding the DC food hub plan is the potential for the food hub to wipe out the activities that are already occurring. If DC truly wants to benefit the local food economy, it needs to focus on where the gaps are in the market. This will most likely involve another study being done and setting up a meeting with the active players in the DC local food economy.

One major theme that will come from a conversation with active members in the local food economy is overcoming one of the major issues in terms of growth: real estate. Both DC Central Kitchen and Arcadia said there biggest issue in expanding their operations was the lack of storage space necessary to expand. Both Arcadia and DC Central Kitchen both currently have an amazing deal on their current storage space. It is essentially rent free. The key to the Baltimore food hub that Greg Heller set up was the deal that the city of Baltimore made for the real estate where the food hub will be located. DC may want to look into a similar deal in terms of warehouse rental space or in terms of property.