Cottage Grove’s Bohemia Food Hub, a commercial kitchen and food business incubator, secured a $500,000 regional food system infrastructure grant that will transform the facility — and improve Oregon’s food distribution network.
Bohemia announced the funding in July, though originally it expected to receive the funds last September. The Trump administration temporarily froze the funds, causing multiple delays. The Oregon Department of Agriculture received the funds through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program’s agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program works to strengthen local and regional food systems by supporting the middle steps of processing, storing and distributing food products from farms to consumers.
Now that the Bohemia Food Hub has the money, Kim Johnson, founder and director of the food hub, says they are “ready to hit the ground running.”
‘Accidental’ development of a food hub
In 2013, Johnson purchased a successful food business, called Tsunami Sushi, from a friend and helped grow it. The company’s tofu sushi got its start at the Oregon Country Fair, and became a staple product in the area’s natural foods stores…