The Health Foundation provided over $2.8 million for the development of the Worcester Regional Food Hub (Food Hub). The Food Hub was designed to improve the regional food system by strengthening sustainable agriculture, promoting healthy eating, and fueling economic development. The Food Hub works to increase access to fresh local food by providing aggregation and distribution services from farms to institutions, schools, and farmers markets and by incubating local food entrepreneurs through a commercial kitchen and business consulting services.
The Food Hub has helped launch more than 100 new food businesses, providing kitchen space and technical assistance, aggregated and distributed produce from more than 50 farms and food producers throughout New England, and currently sells to 150 institutional buyers, including close to 100 Massachusetts public schools.
The Food Hub secured more than $4.5 million in federal, state, and local funding for its new headquarters at Union Station in Worcester and broke ground in March 2024 with plans to open in early 2025. The new space will allow the Food Hub to consolidate operations and offer a retail storefront, storage space for both cold and dry foods and five kitchens.
| 2015-2023 | Total Granted: | $2,857,478 |
News
◊Regional Food Hub breaks ground on new Facility in Worcester
The Worcester Guardian, April 3, 2024
◊Construction for new Food Hub headquarters begin next week at Worcester’s Union Station
MassLive, March 23, 2024
◊ Food Hub gets $3 million boost
Telegram & Gazette, April 15, 2022
◊ Table Hoppin’: Pop-ups around Worcester
Telegram & Gazette, April 7, 2022
◊ Worcester Food Hub receiving $1 million in ARPA funds to help move to Union Station
Spectrum News 1, January 15, 2022
◊ Food Hub Graduate Launches Unique Café
Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Winter 2021 Newsletter
◊ Food Hub Offering Pick-Up of Locally-Sourced Food
Spectrum News, April 10, 2020 (Video)
◊ Table Hoppin’: Worcester Regional Food Hub offering pick-up service of locally sourced products
Telegram & Gazette, March 31, 2020
◊ Meet the chef: Brian Neyenhouse of Nutty Bird Granola
Telegram & Gazette, March 8, 2020
◊ NOMS Eatery: A Pop-Up Success in Local Food Scene
Chamber Exchange The Newspaper, February 2020
◊ Meet the chefs: Bryan Baltazar and Jennifer Palazzo of Noms Eatery
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, November 3, 2019, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ Food Hub graduates 18 from Urban Agenda Grant program
Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, October 8, 2019, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ Chokospice
Edible Boston, September 23, 2019, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ High Interest in Worcester Regional Food Hub’s Diverse Leadership Program Necessitates Increase in Capacity
Chamber Exchange, August 21, 2019, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ Chamber Exchange (Video)
Charter TV3 Central Mass., February 7, 2019, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ Cooking Up Success: The Worcester Food Hub
Edible Boston Magazine, September 20, 2018, Worcester Regional Food Hub
◊ Last Call with Shon Rainford Senior, project manager
Worcester Magazine, June 28, 2018, Worcester Regional Food Hub