In a digital extra, the food entrepreneurship program manager discusses how her passion for local farming led to her career at the Franklin County Community Development Corporation.
Explore how the FCCDC provides support to value-added food producers in our full feature on the Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center.
Read the full transcript:
Kate Minifie, FCCDC: Well, I was always super interested in food systems and local food. Grew up working on local farms in Hatfield, grew up picking tobacco and asparagus and you name it. So, was always interested in that world and wanting to get back to it.
Went to school, studied public health, and was really interested in nutrition and community health education, and so went to the farm-to-school route for a little while in southern Vermont. And then came back and really wanted to help strengthen the local food system here.
And food processing, food manufacturing is this, like, often forgotten part of the local food system that is so important for local farms. We need to add value to produce in order for farmers to get a good profit margin for their products.
And so, that’s why I came here, to support farms in seeing out those dreams.
