Kaptur: Toledo’s Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen Awarded $49,356

WASHINGTON, DC– Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) joined the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development to announce the award of $49,356 to provide technical assistance to Toledo-area based Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK) in designing food safety protocols and HACCP-level training for food businesses in preparation for increased requirements from purchasing agents and regulatory standards. The twenty-five current operators, future businesses, and additional regional processors will benefit.

Ohio is home to some of the country’s most established commercial agriculture-based businesses, including 1,000 food-related companies which employ 60,000 Ohioans. The NOCK, a service of the Center for Innovative Food Technology, or CIFT, is one of two Ohio-based kitchen incubators, and will receive $49,356, which when matched with $17,803 in CIFT funds will provide $67,159 to support the project.

“I cannot understate the role the Center for Innovative Food Technology serves in leveraging resources that help bring ideas for products to the marketplace ,” said Congresswoman Kaptur. “The Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen is the place in northwest Ohio where ideas become reality, where dreams and hard work turn into food products that create future jobs and economic growth.”

"We are very gratified that the USDA recognizes the value of the NOCK operation, and is providing this support", says Dave Beck, President of CIFT. "It will help us to expand the services that we offer to food industry entrepreneurs in Northwest Ohio and beyond."

According to website of the Center for Innovative Food Technology, or CIFT: “Born out of northwest Ohio's rich tradition in fruit and vegetable production and food processing, the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK) focuses on the development and production of specialty, value added foods. The NOCK is a nonprofit commercial kitchen facility designed to assist entrepreneurial efforts and expand current food-related businesses.”

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.

Congresswoman Kaptur is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has funding responsibilities and oversight over the USDA and the Office of Rural Development.

Background:

The USDA Office of Rural Development announcement: capwiz.com/usdarural/utr/1/NWEFXTZTQA/JNFMXTZTQE/11278892691

For a YouTube video on the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQosOGnWUBg

For background on Toledo’s Center For Innovative Food Technology, or CIFT: https://ciftinnovation.org/small-news-list/57-northwest-ohio-cooperative-kitchen

For a list of CIFT clients: https://ciftinnovation.org/small-news-list/144

For background on HACCP: https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/HACCP/

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