by Anna Rogers | Photos by Renata Haidle

Agriculture is at the heart of every community. Every plate shared by family and friends traces back to the hands and lands of those who produced the food enjoyed. This connectivity to our food and our land, and how it impacts the health of a community, is the driving force for the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub.

The Food Hub connects ranchers, farmers, and other producers to local consumers, creating an infrastructure resilient to distribution chain interruptions. “Having an underlying local supply chain and distribution benefits both producers and consumers,” says Carrie Holst, the Hub's general manager.

With a weekly online ordering system, attendance at local markets, direct sales through a Billings storefront, and relationships with other food hubs throughout Montana, the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub offers community members plentiful opportunities to purchase meat, dairy, vegetables, baked goods, cheeses, grains, pickles, jams, and more.

This style of food infrastructure creates a strong sense of community in Billings and its surrounding areas. Consumers have access to a wide range of foods from one central hub. Producers and consumers constantly connect in person, providing opportunities for conversations and relationships. Every dollar spent with the Food Hub goes back into the local community.

“YVFH members are packing your orders every week,” Holst says. “We’re a cooperative, so our members own the hub, make decisions, and run the hub. They’re doing the physical labor to bring the food to folks in Yellowstone Valley and working on their farms and ranches. Everyone is connected to what’s going on and interconnected with other producers. It’s all for the collective.” Carrie Holst

Get to know the YVFH Members!

ABC Gardens is a small fruit and vegetable production operation on the west end of Billings, MT. It is committed to providing produce grown locally without agricultural chemicals. ABC Gardens composts heavily to enrich the soil and promote biodiversity.

Bullseye Ranch is located in Billings, MT, and grows its own hay and corn, allowing home-raised cattle to be grass-fed and corn-finished. Their cattle are raised without antibiotics and no added growth hormones or animal by-products. The Brother and sister team Levi Klamert and Veronnaka Evenson are committed to providing local quality beef and continuing the legacy of their parents’ operation.

Charter Beef was one of the first ranches in Montana to practice Holistic Resource Management. The Charters have been in the ranching business for over 100 years and have been ranching north of Billings for over 60 years. They strive to improve regenerative agricultural practices to give back to the land and improve the community. Charter Beef is nutrient-dense, from cows grown naturally on Montana’s nutrient-rich grasslands and supplemented with hay and local sugar beets in the winter.

Coulee Creek Ranch is located in Lavina, MT, and manages the grasslands holistically to promote healthy plants, animals, and people, all while raising delicious, nutritious food. They sell 100% grass-fed beef. Their animals are all-natural, which means they never receive hormones or antibiotics. 100% grass-fed beef and pastured meats have a high percentage of healthy fats (omega 3s and CLA) and are rich in beneficial antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

 Crazy Bear Farm is located in Absarokee, MT, and is dedicated to raising animals “true to nature” to provide real food with integrity. They strive to provide livestock a calm environment and feed them rations that promote good health without unnatural additives. They are fed non-GMO rations of Montana-grown barley and peas with no corn, soy, or medications.

Everyday Foods is located in Red Lodge, MT, and is focused on a wholesale operation to retailers interested in small-batch, locally made goods. It specializes in slow-fermented sourdough bread, hand-crafted old-fashioned cookies, and made-from-scratch frozen pizzas.

Georgette’s Galettes is located in Billings, MT. They source their flour and eggs from the great state of Montana, using only the best ingredients with no preservatives, artificial flavors, or colors. They import Belgian pearl sugar, which gives their product that surprising crunch. Their galettes are true to their Belgian heritage and are known for quality and decadence.

High Five Meats is located in Molt, MT. Their vision is to raise healthy lamb and beef in a natural environment without using antibiotics, growth hormones, synthetics, or chemicals of any kind. They continually seek to improve their soils through rotational grazing.

House of Ferments creates unique vegetable ferments and kombucha using local and organic ingredients. Their handcrafted small batches are a delicious way to incorporate fermented foods into your daily diet.

Lady Kate’s Garden is located in the Heights of Billings, MT. Lady Kate has always focused on growing sustainable food without using chemicals or pesticides. The garden is sustainably grown and pesticide-free with no-till farming.

Nash Farms is a small, diversified, family farm and ranch operation dedicated to animal welfare and healthy soil that produces high-quality, unique products in Bridger, MT. From “birth to butcher,” animals spend their entire lives on the farm. They don’t brand, dehorn, or use cattle prods and practice a “nose to tail” philosophy of using the whole animal. They never use antibiotics, hormones, herbicides, pesticides, GMOs, or growth promoters. Nash Farms is USDA Certified 100% Grass Fed from registered heritage Dexter cattle.

Second Bloom Flowers is located in Red Lodge, MT, and focuses on growing quality cut flowers naturally. After six growing seasons, Second Bloom has narrowed its flower varieties to unique ones with a long vase life. Second Blooms Flowers specializes in growing for wedding florists, retail florists, restaurants, and wholesalers. 

Shoshone River Farm is a bio-intensive, non-GMO vegetable farm located in Cody, WY. Commercial nitrogen fertilizer is used to support compost production. Bio-intensive soil-building techniques encourage a balance of all life within and without our soils. By utilizing predatory insects as the primary means of controlling infestations, organic pesticides are reduced and only used when absolutely necessary.

Silvertip Ranch is located near Bridger, MT, and feeds its pigs GE corn or barley grown on the farm and GE soybean meal to ensure their nutritional requirements are met. This technology allows them to take better care of their land and the environment for future generations. It reduces dependence on fossil fuels and chemicals. Silvertip Ranch is diligent about its antibiotic use and ensures its pigs' basic needs are adequately met.

Stone Soup Garden is a small-scale, regenerative farm in south-central Montana led by young farmers striving to cultivate healthy soil, food, and community. We believe that healthy soils grow healthy food to nourish healthy people who can thereby create a vibrant, equitable, and resilient community.

Swanky Roots is located in Billings, MT, and is committed to producing products using sustainable methods. Their produce is grown in an aquaponic greenhouse with no chemicals, pesticides, or herbicides to raise delicious greens all year round! Swanky Roots also has an outdoor seasonal market garden that uses organic practices to grow vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, and more.

Swift Buckets turns Billings area home food scraps into nutrient-rich Bokashi fermented liquid concentrate soil conditioner called Big Sky Bio. This nutrient-dense concentrate teams up with microflora to rapidly boost and improve soil health!

The Sourdough Bagel brings authentic, NY-style bagels and spreads to Billings! Their handcrafted, slow-fermented, kettle-boiled sourdough bagels utilize “old school” processes that result in flavorful, crackly crusted and chewy bagels.

Originally printed in the August 2024 issue of Simply Local Magazine

Check this article out in the digital issue of Simply Local here!

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