Second Annual Regional Ag Infrastructure Summit Hosted by NABC
| On February 19, NABC hosted the second Regional Ag Infrastructure Summit in Edison WA. Attendees included a variety of food systems infrastructure project partners from Western Washington. The topics up for discussion were meat processing, cooperative food hub development, and multi-use facilities. NABC owes special thanks to our presenters including:Darron Marzolf- Marzolf MeatsShannon Bly- Whidbey Island Growers CooperativeAndrew Yokom- Puget Sound Food Hub CooperativeAlexandrea Spaulding- The MillworksLinda Neunzig- Snohomish County Food and Farming Center Aslan Meade- SW Washington Ag Park Darron kicked off with an impassioned description of developing meat processing infrastructure. This was followed by Shannon Bly and Andrew Yokom who brought everyone up to speed on current developments in food hub networking and Puget Sound Food Hub’s expansion plans. The afternoon was filled with an interactive activity in which regional multi-use facilities were given an opportunity to solicit ideas and comments from their peers; we heard from Llinda Neunzig, Aslan Meade, and Alexandrea Spaulding. Representatives from WSDA and USDA wrapped up the day with information on funding opportunities. The agenda also included break-out discussions on the topics at hand and of course plenty of time for eating and networking. NABC Executive Director Mike Peroni made the following statement about the infrastructure summit. “It’s such a pleasure to bring our region’s premier agriculture professionals together to discuss infrastructure projects in our region,” Peroni stated. “Connecting in person and sharing a meal allows for more personal and in-depth conversations, and more importantly provides an opportunity to make connections. It is an honor to host such an important event, to highlight our region’s agriculture infrastructure wins, and to support collaborating to address the needs that still exist.” |
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