A Centre County ‘food hub’ will help, connect producers and consumers. Here’s how

A new project helmed by Centre Markets founder Sabine Carey and Webster’s Bookstore Cafe owner Elaine Meder-Wilgus looks to bring benefits to the local food system, from the point of production all the way to consumers’ tables. The two are currently renovating a 19th-century property in Pine Grove Mills that will, once open, house the new Centre Kitchen Collective, as well as a physical location and storefront for Centre Markets.

“There’s a serious lack of access to commercial kitchen space in our community, and just a lack of support for startup food producers that need access to that infrastructure,” Carey said of the project’s inception. “Our goal with Centre Kitchen Collective is to provide an incubator resource.”

When operational, Centre Kitchen Collective will not only provide member food producers — from startups to bakers to food truck operators — with commercial kitchen space, but also meeting and office space, and educational and training resources. Producers and farmers will also benefit from Centre Markets’ adjacent home, as an outlet to sell their goods to the public in a brick-and-mortar location, year-round.

“We want to be an augmentation of what (our local farmers markets) are already offering and create a food hub,” Meder-Wilgus said.

They aim to open the Centre Markets location in late September or early October, while the Collective will open in mid-2024.

“I’ll get contacted by farmers who have 10 heads of kale that didn’t sell at market,” Carey gave as an example. “Centre Markets and the Collective can be that place where, the farmers don’t have to take their goods back to the farm, but those goods can be turned into food for other people.”

Beyond the benefits offered to farmers and producers, though, Carey and Meder-Wilgus hope to also use the project to connect more households in Centre County with the local food system. They’re working to pilot a SNAP program in 2024 that will allow Centre Markets shoppers to double their money when shopping for fresh foods.

“It breaks my heart when I know someone who doesn’t have a lot of resources is relegated to eating highly processed food,” Meder-Wilgus said. “I want to get real food in front of people. ... This kitchen is about getting back to what makes communities strong, which is feeding each other.”

Carey said she sees “the magic happening” in creating connections between those who grow the food, those who prepare the food, and then getting it out to the community.

“I’m looking out the window right now and there’s torrential rain, and it’s a farmers market day,” she said. “That means not many people are going to go to the farmers market today, but that food is still going to be harvested. If we had a store that people could go into, we could keep the food moving through the year, regardless of outside influences. It really adds a level of resilience and stability to both the people that are looking for that local food and the people that are growing it.”

The two also envision the future space hosting community events centered around food, such as cooking classes or networking dinners.

Fundraising for the project is currently underway, with Meder-Wilgus and Carey applying for grants that will help with outfitting the space with needed equipment, as well as with staffing.

In the meantime, Centre Kitchen Collective received a grant from the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau earlier this year to assist with promoting a Centre Kitchen Collective and Centre Markets initiative, dubbed “Centre of the Table.” The initiative launches this fall and offers a preview of the difference Centre Kitchen Collective will be able to make once fully operational, connecting locals and restaurants with farms and food producers. The initiative will include an online series of local producer profiles, an intimate dinner series at Pine Grove Hall and farm-to-table meal kits.

To stay up to date on all things Centre Kitchen Collective, visit centrekitchencollective.org or www.facebook.com/centrekitchencollective. For those interested in supporting the project or volunteering, reach out via www.centremarkets.com. For those interested in the Centre of The Table initiative, visit www.centreofthetable.com.