JACKSON, Wyo. — There’s about to be a new market on the block.
Shelby Belote is nearly ready to open the doors to a new local food market and hub of education and agriculture: The Farm Jackson Hole. The nonprofit will be located in the historic Miller House, on the corner of Bruun Boulevard and East Broadway Ave., the former location of Wyoming Title and Escrow. The shop is expected to open as soon as all formal approvals are stamped, likely within four to six weeks.
Belote, who has served on the board of the Jackson Hole Farmers Market for about five years, believes the store will be a place for year-round access to locally and regionally produced food from farmers, ranchers and producers. She told Buckrail that the shop already has contracts with 50 businesses across six western Wyoming counties to supply the store with inventory.
“I guess what I’ve done is just watch and listen and build these incredible relationships with these farmers,” Belote said. “They’ve been really restricted and limited to whatever opportunities Teton County offers them. And there’s always been this gap, and I’ve watched it, and I’ve actually been looking to bring this to fruition for about four years now.”
A few years ago, Belote went in on a project to construct a greenhouse at Haderlie Farms in Thayne. She saw the initiative as an investment in her ultimate goal of The Farm JH; expanding the potential growing season was a must.
The Farm JH will operate on a consignment model, retaining a 10% commission and returning 90% to suppliers, and it will also accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds. Belote noted that producers typically keep about 70% of revenue at other local markets. The market will be the first year-round, brick-and-mortar storefront in Teton County to operate under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act — the state’s “cottage law” that allows the sale and consumption of homemade and uninspected products.
In February, the organization received grant money from the Wyoming Department of Family Services and Food Works Group through the Wyoming Aggregation and Distribution Grant Program. The grant seeks to strengthen local food infrastructure and access in the state. The funds awarded to The Farm JH are anticipated to support the installation of walk-in cold storage and freezer rooms, commercial refrigeration and freezer units, receiving and aggregation equipment, a paved producer receiving area, and point-of-sale technology.
Aside from the sale of local produce, aggregation will be another main component of the nonprofit. With a 4,000 to 5,000-square-foot building, there will be enough space to create a distribution hub for regional food. Products will be delivered from across western Wyoming, Belote explained, then they will be stored, organized and distributed back out.
A year-round retail opportunity will offer farmers, ranchers and producers a more predictable revenue stream, which in turn allows them to plan and invest more in operations, Belote said. Building a substantial greenhouse, for example, could potentially be a 30-year decision; one summer’s revenue wouldn’t come close to covering the cost of material and labor.
Curtis Haderlie with Haderlie Farms told Buckrail that the farm is eager to participate in Belote’s new retail model. If customers have the ability and flexibility to stop by the market at their convenience, the family-owned farm will be able to reduce the hours spent driving around to meeting points for delivering produce and picking up compost.
Last season, Haderlie said the farm used its new greenhouse to grow mostly greens, which are simpler than fruiting plants. Customers were grateful for the opportunity to buy lettuce, kale, arugula and scallions at winter farmers markets. “Now that we’ve got one winter season under our belt, we’re going to probably try to see if we can expand that,” Haderlie said. “Tomatoes are incredibly popular with customers, and so we’re going to see if we can grow tomatoes through the extended season. … It’s an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Belote is excited about another unique aspect of The Farm JH: the education component. The building will host producer-led classes and workshops for residents to learn more about the origin of their food.
“Our goal is to strengthen local agriculture by creating this farm shop,” Belote said, “so that our farmers, food, and community can connect to each other through access, education and collaboration.”
