Growing Places , a Leominster-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting healthy food access and environmental sustainability, unveiled its new food processing center in Gardner on Wednesday. The facility is in the converted kitchen of the former Waterford St. School, which is the site of the future Gardner Senior Center. Growing Places, which had been utilizing the building's kitchen under a license agreement, recently signed a lease a lease with the city. "We're officially open," said Ann Yeagle, executive director of the Growing Places, who added that the plan to establish a food processing center to serve local farm-to-table organizations began about four years ago. "(We) heard from our farmers that they were able to grow the food, but they wanted to be able to process it because they couldn't do it on the farms, obviously." The processing center will also serve as a direct link between farms and local schools, Yeagle said. Growing Places, a nonprofit aimed at providing healthy food access, unveiled its food processing center in the Gardner Senior Center on Wednesday. From left: Executive Director Ann Yeagle, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, and Processing and Distribution Manager Marielle Vega. Rep. McGovern called Gardner food processing center a model for the country U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, said processing centers such as the one at Growing Places, should serve as a model for the rest of the country. "Take schools, for example," he said. "Schools don't have the infrastructure like this to peel squash or make potatoes into French fries like this, they also don't have the equipment or the personnel to be trained. So, let's get schools and hospitals contracted out with our local farmers to get locally grown food to the people who need it." Under the supervision of Marielle Vega, the processing and distribution manager for Growing Places, Rep. McGovern operated the facility's squash peeling machine. "Are these all grown locally?" Rep. McGovern asked. "Everything here is grown in Massachusetts," Yeagle said. U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, looks on as Marielle Vega, processing and distribution manager for Growing Places, demonstrates a squash peeler at the facility's newly opened food processing center in the Gardner Community Center on Waterford St. Utilizing locally grown produce helps combat climate change In addition to supporting local farms and ensuring residents had access to healthy foods, utilizing locally grown produce was also another way to combat climate change, McGovern said. "It's a lot less damaging to our environment to take a potato from a Massachusetts farm and bring it to a Massachusetts location than it is to ship potatoes from Idaho or California," he said. A grand opening for the Growing Places facility is planned for March, according to Yeagle. "I know Ann and her team have been working on this for a long time, and it's happening and it's just really, really good," McGovern said. The community center will also be home to the Gardner Senior Center , the Gardner CAC, and the city's historical archives. This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Growing Places unveils new food processing center in Gardner
