A food hub run by ranchers and farmers in southcentral Montana is seeing the payoff of roughly three years of preparation.
The Yellowstone Valley Food Hub recently released its first box of locally-grown meat and greens for pick-up in Billings.
The box options included meats like lamb or steak and vegetables like basil or lettuce. There’s a greens-only choice, too.
It’s part of the first “preview” box, which will determine the boxes to come.
Annika Charter-Williams, the food hub’s interim chair, said that adjustment period is part of the process. She said they’ll respond to the feedback they get after this first kick-off basket.
“We want to make this so it’s simple and it’s easy and people want to use it,” said Charter-Williams. “I think that’s why sometimes local food can be so challenging. It’s not simple. It’s not as convenient as just going to the grocery store. That really is one of the goals of the food hub is to make it just as easy to get local food as [buying] from a grocery store.”
Customers were able to pick up their first box Saturday at a farm southwest of the city. There is another box scheduled for pick-up December 22, 2o18.
