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Montgomery County’s Office of Food Systems Resilience has awarded Seven Sisters Food Hub, a new venture from Moon Valley Farm, a $550,000 grant to build and operate a food aggregation facility in the County. Seven Sisters Food Hub (“Seven Sisters”) will leverage Moon Valley Farm’s 15 years of operating experience and strong regional relationships to establish new sales partnerships between small local farms and large institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and restaurants.
The project is expected to:
- Increase production, sales, and access of local food
- Create 10 jobs for local residents in its first year, growing to more than 30 by the end of the four-year grant period
- Provide refrigerated transportation, cold storage, processing and distribution
- Reduce food waste by creating markets for surplus and cosmetically imperfect produce
Maryland institutions spend an estimated $91 million annually on food, and State institutions are required to work toward purchasing at least 20% of their food from local sources. Seven Sisters Food Hub will bridge the gap between institutional demand and local capacity by providing the infrastructure small producers often cannot access independently, including physical infrastructure, traceability software, and logistics coordination.
The grant award includes $300,000 in grant funding awarded to Montgomery County government through the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) to be used for facility construction and capital needs.
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“MARBIDCO is pleased to partner with Montgomery County to invest in the Seven Sisters Food Hub through its Maryland Certified Local Farm and Fish Food Aggregation Grant Program,” said Steve McHenry, director of MARBIDCO. “This project will help Maryland farmers access new markets while helping institutions source Maryland grown food.”
The facility will include dedicated washing and cutting capacity for whole fruits and vegetables, reducing food waste while creating a market for value-added products using surplus and cosmetically imperfect produce that might otherwise go unsold. At this hub, Seven Sisters will handle a variety of local products beyond fresh produce, including meat, dairy products, cheese, grains, flour, and beans.
“Partnering with Moon Valley has been a gamechanger for our school meal program. Last year, they helped Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) seamlessly purchase everyday menu staples like apples and spring mix from local growers,” said Erica Walther, senior specialist of menu and innovation at the MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services. “Knowing this grant will expand their processing capacity is incredibly exciting—it means more ready-to-use locally prepped produce in our school kitchens and on our students’ trays.”
The County will also dedicate $300,000 in the grant’s second year to incentivize institution and restaurant purchases and fund food assistance nonprofit sourcing of Montgomery County products, in addition to funding support for build-out and operating expenses.
“This partnership is a major next step in the County’s three-part strategy to strengthen our community’s food supply for an unpredictable future: expanding local production, increasing market demand, and building the value-chain infrastructure that connects the two. Food aggregation and processing are critical to having sufficient, reliable, and diverse products available for our community,” said Heather Bruskin, director of OFSR.
Seven Sisters will provide technical assistance to help partner farms meet institutional purchasing requirements and tailor onboarding assistance to individual farm needs, resources, and goals.
“We’ve been building toward this for years — as a farm, as a food hub, and as a partner to dozens of farmers across the region. Now we get to build the physical home for that work,” said Emma Jagoz, founder of Moon Valley Farm and Seven Sisters. “Every farm we work with represents someone’s land, someone’s family, someone’s livelihood. This grant isn’t just funding a warehouse — it’s an investment in regional food system infrastructure designed to keep farming viable in Maryland for the next generation.”
Seven Sisters’ goals center on creating new markets that farmers cannot access alone; farms can retain their direct buyer relationships, while the hub exclusively focuses on institutional, wholesale, and Food is Medicine channels that require aggregation models to serve well in all four seasons.
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“Moon Valley Farm is a recognized leader in the food security space and has a proven track record of bringing more local food into institutions,” said Mike Scheffel, director of the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture. “Ultimately, this initiative will strengthen the local agricultural economy and foster sustainable growth for farmers in Montgomery County.”
“As a Montgomery County farmer, I see real potential for a new food hub to expand access to institutional markets that can otherwise be difficult for small farms to reach individually,” said Elshan Bal of Greenway Farms, “At the same time, I believe its success should be measured by how well it complements, rather than competes with, the existing sales channels of local farms. The greatest value will come from creating new institutional demand and connecting farmers with customers they could not efficiently reach on their own, rather than simply shifting existing farm customers and sales through the hub. If structured with that balance in mind, the food hub can create meaningful new market opportunities, improve distribution, and strengthen the overall local food system.”
Farmers interested in these opportunities should contact Josh Levinson (joshua@sevensistersfoodhub.com). A meet and greet webinar for interested producers, buyers, and other partners will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Registration for the virtual event is available on Eventbrite.
For more information, email ofsr@montgomerycountymd.gov.
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Media Contact: heather.bruskin@montgomerycountymd.gov, 240-773-3349
Read the original article at mcgov
