Food Innovation Center Welcomes its First Crop of Students

The Food Innovation Center on the Bronson Healthy Living Campus of Kalamazoo Valley Community College is poised to bridge the gap between local farms and dining room tables.

The new building opened in January at the start of the winter 2016 semester. The first students to use the facility are enrolled in Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems, Food Safety Essentials, Winter Crops Practicum, and, beginning next month, Food Industry Career Planning.

Rachel Bair became Kalamazoo Valley’s Director of Sustainable and Innovative Food Systems eight months ago and has been working behind the scenes to prepare for the building’s opening. “It’s really fun to be here,” Bair said. “It still feels like a whirlwind and there’s so much more to do.”

The tiny sprouts of microgreens, radishes, cabbage, kale, cilantro and basil offer just a glimpse of what’s coming. Soon, the live wall in the visitors’ center will be covered with plants. The grow room will house hydroponic and aquaponic growing systems, and a space-saving, vertically stacked growing rack system that’s popular in dense urban areas. Students have already helped plant seedlings for the hydroponic system.

The building houses lab spaces and one large classroom. There is also a 9,600-square-foot greenhouse on the grounds with shades that provide light and temperature controls and a self-venting roof. “It will be full by summer,” Bair said. “Students will help set everything up and plant it.”

The building houses four staff members including Bair. Mariel Borgman, from Michigan State University’s Cooperative Extension, is also renting a cubicle, an arrangement that presents “an excellent collaboration opportunity,” Bair said.

Bair explained that the building will serve as a local food processing and distribution center, helping to get foods from local farms to large scale consumers like hospitals and schools. “There is a big demand for local foods and a need for supply chain support,” Bair said, explaining consumers need to know that they can depend on a steady supply of large amounts of food. “There is a huge gap between institutions, who buy a ton of food and want to start purchasing more of it from local sources, and the growers who can supply it to them,” Bair said. “The most common barriers for farmers is being able to supply the quantity needed by the institution and meeting food safety assurance requirements. The barriers for institutions are the added labor involved in purchasing from multiple growers, processing farm-fresh produce, and adapting menus to the local growing seasons.”

The Food Innovation Center will be a link in the supply chain from farm to institution.

“We’ll start out by working with a small group of growers. We will provide aggregation, minimal processing, and food safety assurance services, for a fee or commission, and supply the food to a few institutions. These early partners will help us work out the kinks and develop a strong business model. Then, we will take what works and scale up to serve more farmers and more institutions – and ultimately more eaters,” Bair said.

Jeff McClish of Kalamazoo, a Culinary Arts and Sustainable Food Systems major, is taking three courses in the building this semester. “I think it’s great so far,” he said. “There’s nothing in the area that even comes close to this.”

The building is part of a partnership that was announced in 2013 between Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Bronson Healthcare, and Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The Bronson Healthy Living Campus is a catalyst for urban revitalization, community health and workforce development through sustainable food education, training, production, distribution and preparation. The Bronson Healthy Living Campus is an anchor project that creates jobs and spurs economic development in downtown Kalamazoo. The synergies developed between the project organizers, the new medical school, the City of Kalamazoo, and others will meet increasing consumer demand for holistic approaches to food education and health by preparing the next generation of professionals for existing and emerging careers.