Partnerships with other regional food hubs.

Food hub activity in the areas surrounding the District of Columbia is quite rich.  For example,

The Southern Maryland Food Hub is one major player that is building a food hub. Currently the project is being overseen by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC). This organization functions as a nonprofit, and after 10-12 years of negotiations on the food hub, they are likely to break ground within the next three years.  One major point that came out of the conversation with SMADC was their willingness to be a potential supplier to the DC food hub. This may be something DC will want to consider when delving deeper into the creation of its own food hub.

There is potential for DC to compete with the surrounding regions for supply of local foods from farmers to their food hubs. Southern Maryland is an area that has been working extremely hard to build up its capability to supply a food hub. This has meant aid to farmers transitioning from an economy that was once highly focused on the production of tobacco to the production of fruits and vegetables. Southern Maryland has been doing a lot of technical training for their farmers. Therefore, one of the major questions DC needs to ask itself is whether it makes sense to duplicate the efforts that are already occurring around its borders. If SMADC’s food hub has the ability to supply the DC market and provide the necessary technical training to farmers, it may be worth looking into the partnership with other food hubs.  One of the biggest complaints for the existing food hub in DC, DC Central Kitchen and organizations like Arcadia is that issue of seasonality. Partnerships may help assuage any issues that surround seasonality as DC will not have to rely solely on the farmers that are currently associated with its food hub.