When Becca Self founded FoodChain in October 2011, she put her science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to good use in creating an indoor aquaponics farm. She envisioned FoodChain as developing in three distinct yet interrelated phases: an urban farm, a kitchen for preparation and processing, and a store to sell local food. As a former science teacher, her passion for education is a central, connecting tenet of the nonprofit organization’s mission.
In October 2017, FoodChain took a major step in continuing that mission when it opened a 3,500-square-foot teaching and processing kitchen in its headquarters on West Sixth Street. Half of the open space is a commercialized processing area, while the other half is a community-focused teaching space.
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“In Kentucky we’re richly blessed with agrarian land,” Self said. “But it’s hard to flatten out the peaks and valleys of harvest. Processing is the industry’s answer to flatten that out.”
When winter squash comes, for example, in it’s all over the place and even the feeding agencies can’t handle the volume, Self said. “If we can puree and freeze it, that’s a way of extending their resources, too.”
FoodChain’s blast freezer can hold 400 pounds of food at a time, which is a lot, but it will take “far more processing to change the local food system,” Self said.
The kitchen is designed to be flexible. There are three stations of equipment, each including a stove, dishwasher, refrigerator and sink. Stainless steel tables on casters can be arranged in multiple configurations.
“To be able to have the kitchen open is joyful for us and a little intimidating because there’s so much we want to do,” Self said.
An eight-week after-school program for fourth- and fifth-graders from Booker T. Washington, Harrison and William Wells Brown elementary schools called “Cook. Eat. Grow.” focuses on kitchen skills and cooking with seasonal, local ingredients. A high school session will be added over spring break. FoodChain also has a more informal snack program in partnership with the Tweens Coalition’s “Better Bites” program for students at the local school bus stop from Harrison Elementary.
FoodChain employs three full-time and three part-time employees, and Self is also interested in partnering with like-minded organizations so the teaching and processing kitchen can be “an asset for this neighborhood and a source of fresh food for Central Kentucky,” she said.
Top contributors in getting the teaching and processing kitchen up and running include the Kenan Charitable Trust, the Knight Foundation, Governor’s Office of Agriculture Development Funds and the E.E. Murry Family Foundation. FoodChain has also received support from the city’s Extended Social Resource and Workforce Development programs as well the USDA’s Local Food Promotion Program.
“We also have a dedicated group of over 200 individuals who, through small donations, really help support the growth of our programming,” Self said. “The kitchen is the heart of the home. We hope as FoodChain continues to grow that our kitchen can be the heart of the community.”
For more information on FoodChain, including a wish list of kitchen donations, visit foodchainlex.org.