Farm Fresh Rhode Island IS taking its operation to the next level by building a new facility and ascribing to the ambitious goal of having 50% of the food in the region supplied by regional farmers by 2060. Founded in 2004, the nonprofit provides resources for the local food system and has grown since inception as a Brown University student project to a nationally known organization with a $2.3 million annual operating budget that employs 50 full- and part-time/seasonal employees.
At a cost of $15.6 million, Farm Fresh is constructing a 60,000-square-foot facility at 498 Kinsley Ave., Providence, in the Woonasquatucket River Valley corridor. It is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2020. The building, constructed on the site of an old mill destroyed by fire in 2015, will host Farm Fresh’s Food Hub, a new mixed-use facility that will serve as a local food and produce distribution center and offer food production facilities, nutrition education, job training and retail markets.
Jesse Rye, co-executive director, said as part of Farm Fresh’s Food Solutions 50 by 60 Vision, the nonprofit is forging relationships in the region to achieve the goal of producing 50% of its own food by 2060. “While we predominantly work with farmers in southeastern New England, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, we have also been establishing relationships with growers and producers throughout the New England and upper mid-Atlantic regions. So, we have been trying to actively network with other food hubs around the region to make sure we are all working our hardest to benefit the agricultural community.”
Co-Executive Director Sheri Griffin, who helped facilitate founding the nonprofit with founder Louella Hill in 2006, said the facility means “having a home where everything fits neatly and accommodates tenants: food-related businesses that want to do production to build that part of their business plan out, perhaps with associated retail when we have events and markets in the space.”