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Food Hub

Public invited to provide input on future of Kamloops Food Hub

Nov 6, 2019 | 4:09 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Food Policy Council is hosting a public meeting tonight (Nov. 6) to discuss the services and features of a Food Processing and Innovation Hub for the community.

People with an interest in local food are invited to hear how the Kamloops Food Policy Council envisions a local food hub in the city, while providing their thoughts on the topic.

The goal of a food hub would be to strengthen the local food system by increasing how much food is grown and processed in this region.

The Council received a $50,000 grant in July to study how well a food hub could work in this community.

“We are very excited,” said Food Hub Project Manager Robyn McLean. “We’ve had a few months of funding from the Ministry of Agriculture to do a feasibility study to see what is actually feasible for starting a food hub and meeting all those goals that I mentioned. So, we are actually doing the first presentation to say, ‘we think this is how it would look in Kamloops. Do you agree, and is there anything we haven’t thought of yet?'”

The Food Policy Council hopes to see local farmers, food truck operators and others in the food business at the meeting.

Previously, meetings have been held with a working group of stakeholders, but the goal is now to gather input from the public.

“The meeting kicks off at 5:30, but the first part of the meeting is some general Kamloops Food Policy Council business,” McLean said, “so if people can’t come until 6:00, that’s when dinner starts, and then this part of the discussion around the food hub specifically starts at 6:30.”

Anyone attending the meal portion of the meeting is encouraged to bring a dish for the potluck, although it’s not required.

The meeting will be held at the Mount Paul Community Food Centre on Laburnum Street.