A New Canvas for Baltimore: Food Hub Will Bring Healthy Eats to East Baltimore
In September, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development joined with partners from the private and public sectors for a groundbreaking for the Baltimore Food Hub. Developed by American Communities Trust, the Baltimore Food Hub has the potential to help revitalize Baltimore’s Broadway East neighborhood and provide new opportunities for its residents.
The future Baltimore Food Hub sits on the former site of the Baltimore City Water Works Pumping and Repair Station, at the corner of East Oliver and North Wolfe streets. Once completed, the 3.5 acre multi-building campus will feature a 3,300-square foot farm; an 8,000-square foot commercial kitchen; two flexible-use buildings for manufacturing, storage or preparation; and an office space for food-related businesses. City Seeds, a social enterprise of Baltimore-based nonprofit Humanim, will run the teaching and commercial production kitchens for their catering business and School of Food.
The Food Hub has a transformative potential for a disinvested area of Baltimore. The complex will create new jobs, offer educational opportunities to East Broadway residents, foster microenterprise and rehabilitate the historic properties located onsite. Students will be able to visit the site to learn more about urban agriculture and about their food and where it comes from. There will also be a market that operates year-round on the premises. Much of the site will be open to the public, providing valuable learning opportunities and a new source for fresh, local and healthy food for the residents of Baltimore and beyond.
The state has provided $2.7 million for the Food Hub through the department’s neighborhood revitalization and small business lending programs, combined with direct assistance allocated through the governor’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget.
Federal partners include the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nonprofit and private partners include Humanim, Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition, the New Broadway East Community Association, J.S. Plank & D.M. DiCarlo Family Foundation, Abell Foundation, France-Merrick Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, Goldseker Foundation, The Reinvestment Fund, Ziger Snead, STV, Kaliber Construction, and Ballard Spahr.
“A New Canvas for Baltimore” is a regular series covering Project C.O.R.E. (Creating Opportunities for Renewal and Enterprise). Project C.O.R.E. will clear the way for new green space, new affordable and mixed use housing, and new opportunities for small business owners in Baltimore City. The initiative will generate jobs, strengthen the partnership between the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland and lead to safer, healthier and more attractive communities. For more information on Project C.O.R.E., visit http://dhcd.maryland.gov/ProjectCORE/.