Reflecting the renewed appreciation of Hudson Valley agriculture products as an economic engine as well as a culinary attraction, three new programs are being initiated to help area farmers get a bigger buck for their efforts.
A food safety education program and two related incubator programs were announced Sept. 27 at Davenport Farms in Stone Ridge. U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey said he has secured approval by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services of a $205,000 investment to continue the work of the Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corp. and help implement the new initiatives.
The first initiative, Hudson Valley Bounty, will involve educational programming for farmers, retail buyers and chefs to support the adoption of stringent food safety standards that will buttress the reputation of products from the region.
The second initiative, Hudson Valley Incubator Kitchen, will be a joint effort of HVADC and Farm to Table Co-packers located at Tech City that will use their facilities to provide technical assistance and expertise to facilitate manufacturing of food products by farmer and entrepreneurs in the Hudson Valley. The incubator kitchen is expected to work with up to 20 new businesses a year and to lead to the creation of 30 jobs.
It is “Research and development for local food products for local farms,” said Jim Hyland, co-owner of Farm to Table. “We see this as a public-private partnership to do product development and bring more food businesses to the area. They can use the incubator kitchen at our facility and then hopefully build brands and create products that can use our full production lines.”
The third initiative, Hudson Valley Agribusiness Incubator Fund, will seed the development of a capital services program targeting small and emerging agribusinesses. These programs are part of the emerging Hudson Valley “food corridor” that is positioned to meet many of the culinary needs of the New York City region.
“Our local farmers have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the growing demand for local produce and agricultural products in the New York City metropolitan area, right here in the Hudson Valley, and beyond,” said Hinchey, who has been instrumental in providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding to support the food corridor and HVADC.
