History/Updates
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::What is a Food Hub?
“A food hub is a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distributions, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.”
The voters approved the following:
“We the citizens of Jericho propose the formation of Jericho as a vital Food Hub for the citizens of its town and environs. A Food Hub Task Force will be established, with the goal of increasing food self-sufficiency via the production, manufacture and distribution of local food.”
“A food hub is a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distributions, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.”
The voters approved the following:
“We the citizens of Jericho propose the formation of Jericho as a vital Food Hub for the citizens of its town and environs. A Food Hub Task Force will be established, with the goal of increasing food self-sufficiency via the production, manufacture and distribution of local food.”
The issue:
Today our food system is a food ‘chain’ where food producers are completely disconnected from the food consumers. Disconnected from our food origins, we do not interact with the people who grow, process and manufacture the food. With disruptions in the food chain, we already see prices soaring and are relying increasingly on the behaviors of faraway suppliers. We are seeing both drought and flooding in the central and western USA where much of our food originates. Can we continue to depend on them to feed us?
Our dream:
What if Jericho citizens supported each other via a food sharing program benefiting them as well as their neighbor? What if additional land in the town were set aside to support growing crops, raising chickens, beef and pork, with the goal of making Jericho much more self-sufficient food wise? What if we set up a town center that supported the small business person and grocery stores, to open specialty stores or restaurants featuring foods produced in this town?
A food sovereign town would host many new jobs and opportunities from growing the food to running storage facilities and operating distribution and access programs. Not all people are good a farming or even want to grow a garden, but they may have other skills that they can use to support the system, or they can support the effort by spending their money locally. Other people are skilled at gardening/farming and/or raising livestock. Such people are major assets, and should be supported by Town policies that lead us toward food sovereignty.
As we learn to deal with climate change and its uncertainties, Jericho could respond proactively by assessing its own resources and how they can be leveraged to support its citizens. We have an opportunity to build food resiliency over time by practicing how to take care of ourselves, building community structures supportive of feeding and nurturing our residents regardless of what happens outside our region.
Today our food system is a food ‘chain’ where food producers are completely disconnected from the food consumers. Disconnected from our food origins, we do not interact with the people who grow, process and manufacture the food. With disruptions in the food chain, we already see prices soaring and are relying increasingly on the behaviors of faraway suppliers. We are seeing both drought and flooding in the central and western USA where much of our food originates. Can we continue to depend on them to feed us?
Our dream:
What if Jericho citizens supported each other via a food sharing program benefiting them as well as their neighbor? What if additional land in the town were set aside to support growing crops, raising chickens, beef and pork, with the goal of making Jericho much more self-sufficient food wise? What if we set up a town center that supported the small business person and grocery stores, to open specialty stores or restaurants featuring foods produced in this town?
A food sovereign town would host many new jobs and opportunities from growing the food to running storage facilities and operating distribution and access programs. Not all people are good a farming or even want to grow a garden, but they may have other skills that they can use to support the system, or they can support the effort by spending their money locally. Other people are skilled at gardening/farming and/or raising livestock. Such people are major assets, and should be supported by Town policies that lead us toward food sovereignty.
As we learn to deal with climate change and its uncertainties, Jericho could respond proactively by assessing its own resources and how they can be leveraged to support its citizens. We have an opportunity to build food resiliency over time by practicing how to take care of ourselves, building community structures supportive of feeding and nurturing our residents regardless of what happens outside our region.
Underhill team joins forces with JFHTF |
Early in 2024, the Underhill Local Agriculture and Local Foods Initiative joined forces with JFHTF to broaden not only the number of farmers but to double the size of the community we serve. JFHTF is excited to have more enthusiastic people pursuing a Food Hub concept with us.
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How can I stay informed and/or get involved?
Monthly updates are provided here! The Jericho Underhill Food Hub meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 6pm at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library, but check this website’s calendar to make sure! Check out the website: www.jufoodhub.org Take our survey! Information gathered from this survey is very helpful:https://forms.gle/uy3qVyA6fXDB3h227 Media: https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-08-19/local-food-booster-club-jericho- Meeting Updates: Jericho Underhill Food Hub Meeting Minutes, June 24, 2026 Deborah Rawson Memorial Library at 6 pm Sandy Wilmot, Josh Exler, Anne Clift, John Koier, Linda Ide, Grace Grey, Nathan Goldman, Ann Linde, Amy Golodetz, Adam Wechsler, Jenny Bedell, Michael Oman, John Connell, Rose Rochford, Emily Tomkins, Dave Clift, Linde Ide, Chris Shaheen, Dave & Nicole Stone Food Shed Jericho Upgrades: Dave Stone, a scout from troop 627, reported that they had repainted the Jericho Ctr. food shed. The shelves also needed repair as they had been ant infested. They are also looking for a donation of small stones to put on the floor to keep it dryer. Nicole said they were looking forward to adding art to add “pizazz” to the Shed. Sandy offered some veggie stencils to use for the artwork. Wastewater Study Update /Riverside development: Chris Shaheen, Jericho Planning Administrator, gave an update on the Wastewater Study related to Riverside development (property owned by GW Tatro behind the Jericho Market). The development is dependent on having a wastewater system that can support the proposed housing/businesses, in addition it will provide a system others can tap into. The key focus of the development is to provide public affordable housing and not causing sprawl which helps protect agricultural land. The committee is still in the preliminary stages of the study, and the goal would be construction in 2028. His goal in meeting with us was to keep the community that might be interested in using the space informed. He is happy to field any questions. (see full slide presentation and contact information for Chris attached). Treasurer’s Report and Fundraising: Rose updated us on funds received and spent to date this year. In summary, we only have $122 left in our bank account after funding the recent Producers Guide. The guide with postage cost was ~ $1,000 more than last year. Sandy and Amy explained that the additional increase in cost was due to additional pages for more producers, more copies, and wanting to maintain the educational information in the guide. A discussion followed to increase our solicitation of donations to the community for the short term and move the donation button on our website to make it easier. We also need to look for longer-term fund-raising activities to add a cushion to our bank account. Josh suggested we look at color content to keep the guide cost down in the future. There was also a suggestion to increase advertising in the next guide to help funding. If anyone would like a copy of the treasurer’s report, reach out to Rose. Community Pizza Bake: Emily let us know that the Pizza Oven is currently being repaired and may delay the start of the Tuesday night summer event. She will keep us posted but the July 7th bake will most likely be cancelled. Stones Throw will donate the dough again. She will send out a google doc for folks to volunteer to help watch the fire and help them with baking. We discussed limiting the event advertising to keep it focused on Jericho just to prevent the event getting too big. Right to Food: Grace and committee reported that they were able to give gift cards to 30 participants in the pilot program. The participants can use the cards at local participating farms to get products at no cost to them. In return they are asking the participants to complete a survey to get information to help decrease food insecurity under the International Right to Food movement. So far 13 of the 30 have completed the survey. The Essex Rotary funded the project. Transition Town Jericho: Adam participated in a skill sharing pilot held at the Deborah Rawson Library Monday June 22nd. There were choices of breakout groups including “digital hygiene” (staying safe on-line) and Drum circle or a Poetry session. He said it was a small group but thought future events could include a broad number of community sharing including agricultural. They are aiming for another session in August. Community Meal: Anne confirmed the date of August 16th from 11am to 1pm at Davis Farm on Cilley Hill. Prep will take place the day before at the United Church of Underhill. Anne will create sign up genius in July. The current menu includes: Kabobs – veggie and Beef Cheese Salads – Greek and Zucchini Roasted Potatoes Apple Blueberry Crisp Volunteer Days/Farm Assistance: Deanna will be heading up the project of developing a pool of food hub and community members who are interested in supporting farmers on site for activities like gleaning. The first step is to reach out to producers to see how we might support them. If you are interested in helping Deanna with the organization of these efforts or being on a list of activities, please let her know. [email protected]. PR Guide Update: Amy asked for suggestions for places to put extra guides. If anyone needs additional copies let Amy know. We have received positive feedback from the Community! Mapping Work: Adam created great maps, one for Underhill and a separate map for Jericho. The maps put all producers who shared their addresses on the map with a number and key to find the producer. He shared various drafts and solicited input on sizing, color etc. The maps will be available for folks to download and print from our JUFH website. Potato Patch Updates: John said the patch is growing well! There have been 3 weeks of maintenance covered and they are targeting September 19th as a harvest date. Summer Workshops: The next workshop is Saturday June 27th – Planning a Pollinator Garden. Tobi Shulman 415 Browns Trace Road Jericho. Sandy has identified several Green Houses to participate in a workshop for folks wanting to build their own Green House. More to come as they narrow down the selection for a workshop. We are still looking to create a Kids focused workshop, some suggestions were given on who might be good for Natural Crafts. Linda is still interested in learning more about creating a root cellar. There does not appear to be a large usage of root cellars in the area. Jericho Energy Fair Sept 22: Michael gave an update on the fair and asked if the Food Hub would like to share a table (like what we did at Town Hall Meeting) to promote JUFH activities. Contact Michael for details to coordinate. Next Meeting: Deborah Rawson Library: Wednesday July 22, 2026 |
