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Fresh produce and goods from any number of the 20-plus partners are package and prepared for customer curbside pickup.
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Aerial view of KelRae Farm in Toano.
So, when Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued a statewide mandatory closure of nonessential businesses, including farmers markets, on March 24, KelRae Farm was ready. Anticipating a potential need for farms and producers to reach the market, it launched KelRae Food Hub four days ahead of the governor’s order on March 20. Talk about foresight.
“Everybody started reaching out to us in regard to food. So, we launched the program four months sooner than when we were going to,” said Michelle Gulden, owner of KelRae Farm.
The idea for the food hub started last year when Lulus Local Food, an e-commerce software platform for farms, food hubs, farmers’ markets, and community supported agriculture (CSA) saw the relationship between KelRae Farm and Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and encouraged them to consider forming a food hub.
“We were pondering it for maybe June or July, and then our world flipped upside down,” she said.
Gulden has now rounded up over 20 independent small farms and food producers from around the local region and in the Richmond area.
“Many of our other farmer friends also needed this benefit in order to be able to stay connected to our community,” she said.
The food hub functions as an online farmers’ market with KelRae Farm as its distribution center.
“The online ordering window starts every Friday at noon and remains open until Monday at midnight,” said Gulden. “The farmers (and food producers) have Tuesday and Wednesday to get their orders harvested, baked and prepared and then delivered out here to us. Then every Thursday our customers come for a drive through pick up here on our farm. They visit a real, working, local farm each week and see exactly where fresh, locally grown food comes from.”
Gulden is humbled by the amount of support for the food hub by the Williamsburg community. “It feels good,” she said. “Our community is not just our customers, they’re our friends too.
Like other local businesses during COVID-19, the KelRae Farm Food Hub has embraced charity. “On the Hub, our customers can purchase a gift box of fresh produce and local items, which is called
A Box of Hope. It’s a $10 purchase and KelRae Farm and our other producers contribute to these boxes,” said Gulden.
The boxes are picked up every Thursday morning at 8:30 by House of Mercy. When peak season arrives, Gulden also looks forward to extending her giving to Grove Outreach. “We’ve been working with them for the last several years, but we’re excited for this new venture with the House of Mercy. It’s so awesome,” she exclaimed.
Farm Freshness
Want to know which farms and food producers you can expect to find in the Hub? Here is the current list:
• KelRae Farm
• Virgina Bread Co
• Soulful Coffee Roasters
• Haashrooms
• Tasha’s Own Goat Milk Soap
• Drumheller’s Orchard
• Purcell’s Seafood
• Free Range Juice
• Wild Earth Fermentation
• The Freckled Farm Soap Co.
• Dockery Branch Farm
• A Box of Hope
• Stargell’s Apiaries
• Custom Culinary Connections
• Pomocray Farm
• Birdie’s Pimiento Cheese
• Catering by SV
• Bugle Call Coffee
• MOTHER shrub
• Mini Acre Farm
• Celli’s Chocolate Chips
• Reginald’s Homemade
Try out KelRae Food Hub Visit kelraefarm.com to learn more about the KelRae Farm Food Hub. Use Membership Promotion Code ONE_WEEK_FREE to save on your first order.