Bethel Looks to Food Hub for Economic Spark

The food hub is expected to create 40 jobs.

BETHEL, NC – Feb. 2017

In Bethel, it is all about what’s on the menu, whether it’s the economic development menu or those traditional ones that determine what’s for diner. Bethel will soon be the site of a new food hub designed to bring healthier food to residents, a market for local farmers and jobs to a town that will certainly welcome them.

In all, the food hub is expected to create 40 jobs. The project is the result of the town working with the U.S. Department Agriculture for funding, along with the nonprofit Coalition for Healthier Eating. The facility is expected to serve a nine-county area, even as residents of Bethel will see their lives made easier with a more accessible place to buy their food.

According to Maxine White, the executive director of the Coalition for Healthier Eating, the facility will essentially be a warehouse with a range of food that residents can take directly to their table. It will be located in a renovated building, the Randall A. Gore Building. In total, the project is expected to cost $1.6 million.

The Hub will also provide nutritional education on the sustainably produced foods that will be sold there.

See a media account of the project here.