Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patty Ritchie hosted a meeting Monday with agriculture experts to discuss the establishment of a “food hub” in the region that will better connect farmers with consumers who are looking to eat healthy, locally grown and produced foods.

Made possible through $1 million in the state budget secured by Sen. Ritchie, the planned Upstate New York food hub could give farmers and agribusiness owners an opportunity to bring products to a central location where they then can be transported to major cities throughout the state, including New York City.

Ritchie represents the western half of St. Lawrence County including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur, plus parts of Jefferson and Oswego counties.

“Whether it’s in a ‘farm to table’ restaurant or at a special section of the grocery store, across our region and state are so many signs that consumers are looking to increase their consumption of foods that are grown or produced locally,” said Senator Ritchie.

“This meeting is one of the first steps to getting a food hub—which will help our region’s farmers and agribusiness owners more easily get their goods to different parts of our state—off the ground. By giving other parts of New York a taste of Upstate, we’ll not only be helping a greater number of people consume healthy foods, we will also provide an economic boost to our local farmers.”