Contact: Ellen Barnard (608) 576-3734
(MADISON, Wis.) – Citing higher visibility and a decrease in fundraising needs, Food Enterprise and Economic Development (FEED) Kitchens selected the Northgate Shopping Center for the new location of its food business incubator, the organization announced today.
“The Northgate location has a lot of advantages, such as easy access by bus and the support of local businesses such as Food Fight Restaurant Group,” FEED Kitchens Chair Ellen Barnard said. “We are excited to begin supporting local food entrepreneurs in the upcoming year.”
Groundbreaking for the new location, which will take just under a half-acre of space in the shopping center’s parking lot, is slated for March 1, 2013, and the anticipated opening of the facility is August 2013, just in time to process next season’s harvest. Pankratz Road near the airport was the original site.
As previously announced, the FEED facility will include five commercial kitchens, with specialized equipment for baking; produce preparation and processing; and deli prep and meat processing. The space will be available for non-profit and for-profit use, with Madison College, REAP Food Group, local caterers and food cart vendors among the first groups to sign up to use FEED Kitchens.
The Food Enterprise and Economic Development (FEED) Kitchens will provide tools to help youth and adults who are disadvantaged, unemployed or underemployed develop skills that move them toward self-sufficiency. FEED will reduce hunger and increase the availability of healthy local food by providing organizations serving the hungry, gardeners and farmers a place to process excess produce that would otherwise end up in a landfill or compost pile. For more information, please visit http://www.feedkitchens.org.
