Judson Mill’s Feed and Seed is set to open Saturday, April 9 at 8 a.m., bringing a new local and regional “food hub” to the Upstate.
Located inside the Warehouse at the new Judson Mill development at 701 Easley Bridge Road, the nonprofit food aggregation and distribution center will serve food relief organizations, schools, institutions and local residents with healthy, affordable food.
“It’s been a long journey, and I’m excited and honestly a little anxious,” said Mary Hipp, board chair of Feed and Seed. “I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, because it seems surreal that we’ve finally made it here after so long.”
Read our in-depth profile on Feed and Seed’s mission
The 18,000-square-foot food hub will consist of a cafe and marketplace in the front of the space, which shoppers can pick up regular groceries — fresh produce, quick healthy meals, kitchen staples and other items — along with chef-prepared breakfast and lunch dishes. Behind the market will be a commercial kitchen, which will support the cafe, with another commercial kitchen right behind it.
Cafe menu
- Waffles (plain, whole wheat or gluten-free)
- Southwest bacon egg and cheese waffle
- Mixed berry waffle
- Buffalo chicken salad wrap
- Roasted turkey on wheat
- Smokey potato and kale stew
- Root vegetables salad
- Upstate Caesar salad
The real guts of the operation, however, is the food processing and storage area, where fresh produce will be shipped in via loading dock, then freeze-dried, dehydrated, flash-frozen or otherwise processed to ensure food can be stored without sacrificing its chemical structure, flavor and nutrition.
With some large rooms chilled to a frigid zero degrees Fahrenheit, the total 5,200-square-foot storage area can accommodate a wide array of storage needs.
The hub will also feature a community room, where classes for community members and technical support for farmers will be conducted.
“The short version of our mission here is to make fresh food affordable to all South Carolinians,” Hipp said. “We already have the farmers here. We have the buyers. But the system that connects the two is broken or just does not exist anymore. Feed and Seed is rebuilding that system, a direct connection from the farmers to the institutions — the kids in schools, the underprivileged, the everyday residents.”
For more information about the programs at Feed and Seed or to volunteer, visit FeedandSeedSC.com.
