TOWNSHEND — Farmers, community members, and local groups in the West River Valley are invited to a celebration of the West River Community Project's new Vermont state-licensed commercial kitchen to be held Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m., in West Townshend.
The commercially equipped kitchen was built with community support and a U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Facilities Grant, and can be used for household, nonprofit, and commercial food preparation, according to a news release.
Finger foods featuring local ingredients and products will be served, and officials from USDA will be on hand to celebrate the availability of the new community kitchen.
The kitchen. located on Route 30, features multiple ovens, six high-BTU burners, a five-gallon steam kettle, a commercial mixer, a dishwasher, a food processor, an immersion blender, and miscellaneous small wares.
The nonprofit West River Community Project, which promotes agricultural, economic, and social activities in the West River Valley, provides orientation and training to prospective kitchen users. After participating in a one-hour training session, users can sign up for as little kitchen time as a single two-hour block or for a half-day or more weekly.
Local businesses and farmers already have begun to use the facilities, and workshops held by the Project on yogurt and kefir-making, applesauce canning, and beer-making, along with children's cooking classes, have taken place in the kitchen as well.
Discussions are underway with local school lunch programs in schools that don't have full kitchens and with Grace Cottage Hospital's healthy eating program to use the kitchen facilities for education and training.