Getting involved
with local food:
A Shared-Use
Kitchen can
Support Local
Growers
 Does your church or school have a commercial kitchen?
Are there times when that kitchen is not in use?
Would your parish/congregation be willing to consider helping and supporting local growers by allowing them to use your kitchen?
Local farmers who are trying alternative crops and products to stay on their land and in their community could often make more money if they could do what is called "light processing". For instance, vegetable growers might be able to make more money if they had a place to wash and perhaps peel and cut up their vegetables for their customer’s convenience.
This kind of use for your kitchen would make it a "shared use commercial kitchen". This could be a valuable service for you to extend as a ministry of support. What would you need to consider?
1. What could local growers do in your kitchen?
In general, if your kitchen is licensed as a commercial kitchen that could be used for food processing, they might be able to :
clean, cut, peel and package vegetables and fruits
produce dried foods
produce frozen or keep refrigerated products
do some processing of acid foods (those with a pH of 4.6 or less)
prepare baked goods
Other processes may require different insurance, equipment and procedures. Meat and poultry processing require meeting state and USDA inspection and certification regulations.
Have someone to act as kitchen manager
4.What about regulations?
Your state department of Inspections and Appeals, Food Processing and Safety division is the state agency to start with when asking about food processing licenses, regulations, and inspections for shared use kitchens. Your state Department of Agriculture may also have this information
Local contacts for questions would be your local Board of Health, and possibly your County Sanitarian.
Your county or regional extension service offices will also have information on food safety and food handling. Local extension offices can often put you in touch with specialists to help with planning and management of a shared use kitchen.
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2.What kind of insurance
would be needed?
You will need to check with your current insurer about property and general liability insurance. You may want to add mechanical breakdown insurance and business interruption insurance
The growers that use your kitchen should carry product liability insurance. If this proves to expensive for individuals, they may want to get together in a cooperative arrangement to obtain this coverage.
3. What would you have to do to manage a shared use kitchen?
Have a procedure for growers to apply for use of the kitchen
Have a plan for them to be trained to use it properly
Figure out rates to charge for kitchen use
Figure out a schedule for use that works for growers and for parish needs such as funerals, etc.
Know regulations for continuing safety and sanitation in the kitchen
5. Where can you find out more?
The following books contain much good information on shared use facilities:
Establishing a Shared-Use Commercial Kitchen edited by Cameron Wold, University of Colorado at Denver
The Legal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing by Neal D. Hamilton, Drake University Agricultural Law Center, Des Moines, Iowa 50311
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