In 2023, after eight years of planning and fundraising, a nonprofit kitchen project called the Carver Food Enterprise Center (CFEC) opened on Sept. 1. Since then, CFEC has run workshops and food rescue events, helped start new small businesses, and grown to offer extensive equipment and spaces for locals.
The kitchen first opened with one main kitchen available for rent. Over the last year, CFEC has expanded to include a prep space, bakery, mobile unit services, and an outdoor cooking space. All spaces are available for rent to small food businesses, farmers, producers, community partners, and locals. The nonprofit also provides incubation services, including help with VDH and VDACS applications. The kitchen has provided space to 16 businesses, two of which graduated to a brick-and-mortar location.
“While the one-on-one coaching is vital to food entrepreneurs, so too are our workshops, which help businesses take the next step," said program director Gretchen Ledmor.
With local area partners like the Small Business Development Center and Virginia Cooperative Extension, CFEC has hosted four workshops, serving over 200 businesses with vital food safety and regulation information. The next workshop, Food Safety School, will be led by Dr. Alexis Hamilton with Virginia Tech on Oct. 18 and will cover many of the regulations small food producers face. A food truck-specific series will begin later that month and run through the winter.
The nonprofit also provides space for community-building activities. The Feeding 500 Program held at CFEC transforms hard-to-use produce donations into meals for local food pantries with volunteer support. Since opening, the kitchen has hosted five such events, rescuing 2,000 lbs of food and turning it into over 3,000 servings of healthy, nutritious food.
The next Feeding 500 event will occur on Oct. 18, using butternut squash from the Fauquier Education Farm.
If you want to see the kitchen, check out the upcoming Culpeper Harvest Days, Sept. 21-22. In addition to tours, the kitchen will conduct sensory testing of bone broth and marinara sauce products. Businesses that use the kitchen will sell their local products and food trucks will be on site.
CFEC is a George Washington Carver Agriculture Research Center (GWCARC) project, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. More information can be found at their website: gwcfec.org
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