Carver Food Enterprise Center update: "We're building something pretty special"

BY GRETCHEN LEDMOR

https://starexponent.com/news/local/article_87d13dd5-9646-46b6-9c78-53690120a91a.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Culpeper_Star-Exponent_news&fbclid=IwY2xjawTizkBwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVdIeGQzUzhzT1dvVURxS0dzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEegs2s0GEgfvbsrvC3TPqe582Q4IVJDtWl4awZdEdFEbRDoDON6oXLd7KMZoM_aem_M0QYKBEQ8T2RtfLaoduNcQ If you stopped by Carver in July, you probably noticed something a little different. Construction has officially begun.

After years of planning, grant writing, meetings, equipment decisions, and more spreadsheets than we'd care to admit, we're finally taking the first visible steps toward transforming the Carver Food Enterprise Center through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

By the end of this year, our goal is to quadruple our production space, nearly triple our cold and dry storage, add classroom and office space, and create a USDA-inspected processing area that will help farmers, food businesses, and institutions work together in entirely new ways. It's the biggest project we've ever tackled. And somehow, we're doing it without pressing pause on everything else. Our goal throughout construction is simple: keep the kitchen open, keep serving our community, and keep saying "yes" whenever we possibly can.

That meant July was equal parts construction zone and production kitchen.

We kicked off the month with a fantastic volunteer day. Together, we baked pumpkin muffins for Feeding500 and began another batch of strawberry ice pops for our Farm-to-School program. At the same time, our friends from the OPTIONS program helped assemble a fleet of rolling storage cages that will help us keep equipment and supplies organized as construction moves from room to room.

They're not glamorous. But those cages may become some of our favorite pieces of equipment this year. (Organization is beautiful. We will not be taking questions.)

We also completed another test batch of beef tallow for Kinloch Farm. Like our pet treats, tallow is an exciting value-added product that helps local farms make full use of every animal while creating additional revenue streams. It also happens to be a great fit for our kettles, which makes us happy and the farmers happy. Everybody wins.

Speaking of happy — dogs around the region rejoiced! This month, we produced two additional batches of pet treats for Kinloch Farm, expanding the lineup to include heart, liver, and kidney treats. It's been incredibly rewarding to watch this partnership grow as we refine our co-manufacturing systems together.

One of the highlights of July was hosting our first Temporary Food Establishment Workshop alongside the Virginia Department of Health. For anyone dreaming about selling food at festivals, farmers markets, or community events, this workshop pulled back the curtain on everything from permits to handwashing stations.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, and we're excited to make this a twice-yearly offering. If you've ever thought about starting a food business with a pop-up tent, we'd love to see you at the next one.

Mid-month brought another busy production day, and the unofficial start of tomato season.

One of the biggest challenges of working with small local farms is that the harvest doesn't arrive all at once. Instead of truckloads, we might receive 80 pounds here, 120 pounds there, then another 150 pounds the following week. So rather than waiting, we're building our sauce one harvest at a time. Each delivery is diced, cooked down, and frozen until we have enough to produce large batches of shelf-stable tomato sauce for schools and other institutions. This project is especially exciting because it's the first year we've invited farmers throughout the region to sell us not just their perfect tomatoes, but also the seconds, the "uglies," and the varieties that might otherwise be difficult to market. Cherry tomatoes. Roma tomatoes. Heirlooms. If it's delicious, we'll find a home for it.

We're especially grateful to the Rapidan River Master Gardeners here at the Carver Center, who have been growing and donating beautiful Roma tomatoes to help bring this vision to life. And to Farmer D, who yet again stepped up and started going hundreds of pounds of lovely tomatoes. Standing in the kitchen watching dozens of varieties become one community tomato sauce feels like watching the local food system work exactly as it should. We can't wait to see those first jars rolling off the line.

Between tomato deliveries, we also spent a smoky Saturday at the Warrenton Farmers Market. Thanks to Canadian wildfire smoke, the air looked dramatic. Thankfully, our fruit ice pops were equally dramatic, in the best possible way. We happily handed out every single one, spending the day introducing folks to CFEC, our Farm-to-School work, and the many ways local fruit can become something fun, nutritious, and delicious.

Behind the scenes, however, another project quietly consumed much of our month.

Construction. While our brand-new kitchen hood has now been installed and is awaiting its final inspection, dozens of other moving pieces continue to come together. It's a bit like putting together a thousand-piece puzzle, except someone keeps adding more pieces just when you get the edges done!

Even with all of that planning, we're incredibly excited about where this project is headed.

Like many construction projects, we've encountered a funding gap as costs have increased and additional improvements have been bundled into the work to make every construction dollar go further.

Rather than scaling back our vision, we're actively working with our partners and supporters to close that gap and ensure we build a facility that will serve this community for decades to come.

With the $1.2 million USDA grant and support from PATH Foundation, Prince Charitable Trust, Northern Piedmont Community Foundation, and many generous donors, more than $1.5 million has already been invested in this transformational project. We've launched our Capital for Community Food Campaign with a goal of $300,000. We've never been closer to making this vision a reality. Every donation, every shared post, and every introduction helps bring this project across the finish line.

Contribute to the project at zeffy.com.

As July comes to a close, we're reminded that construction isn't just about buildings. It's about possibilities. Every tomato we're freezing today. Every entrepreneur walking through our doors.

Every volunteer is assembling storage cages. Every farmer is looking for a new market. They're all pieces of the same vision. So while there may be a little more dust than usual around Carver these days. The future is looking pretty bright.

Thank you to Lenah, Kim, our incredible volunteers, the OPTIONS team, Virginia Cooperative Extension, our farmers, clients, community partners, and every one of you who continues to believe in this work.

We're building something pretty special.

Gretchen Ledmor is the executive director of the Carver Food Enterprise Center. She holds a degree in communication from UNC Asheville and a former small business CEO.