Value-Added Products

Q: SHARED KITCHEN. Is there a commercial shared-use kitchen in the Asheville area where I can make jams and jellies from my blackberries?

A:  There is a shared use kitchen near Asheville at the Enka campus of AB Tech Community College. It is called Blue Ridge Food Ventures. Farmers bring in their produce and process it themselves in a certified kitchen. There are folks there to advise you, too. The website is http://blueridgefoodventures.org.

There is another shared use kitchen in the far western part of the state, at the Stecoah Valley Center: http://mapaa.org/html/stecoah_valley_center.htm. The Smoky Mountain Native Plants Association helped make that happen and make their ramps products there.