Notice: The public is invited to view livestreamed regular monthly Council meetings on our YouTube Livestream page.
Regular monthly Council meetings will also be available for later viewing on our YouTube channel.

For the latest updates from the Governor, please visit governor.virginia.gov. [new]

Makers Market

So Local

  • Simple Item 2
  • 1

Southern Virginia Makers Market

makers market logoThe Southern Virginia Food Hub (SVFH) dba Southern Virginia Makers Market is a 501c3 nonprofit, multifaceted operation, addressing several needs of local agribusinesses.

The brick and mortar location at 100 West Danville Street, South Hill, Virginia, is open Wednesdays through Fridays, 9A to 6P and Saturdays, 9A to 2P. It houses a local food grocery, commercial kitchen, dairy processing room, local food deli, coffee shop, and a community classroom.

The local food grocery increases the availability of local products to consumers, beyond the limited operating hours of the South Hill Farmers Market. Area farmers, as well as local bakers, utilize the commercial kitchen to create their own unique products.

The kitchen is used to transform locally produced farm products into value-added items such as, butter, cheeses, casseroles, baked goods, soups, jellies, jams, and sauces. These goods are then available for retail through the grocery and deli of the SVFH.

The deli offers ready-to-eat, take home meals prepared from in season local products, extending the local food option to busy families.

The community classroom is used to teach agribusiness, cooking, healthy eating, canning, sustainable farming and many other classes in conjunction with the SVFH’s partners at Virginia State University School of Agriculture and the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Meetings and other events are held in this space as well, with the meal showcasing local foods.

The SVFH also addresses the issue of food waste. Local produce farmers wholesale their overstock or blemished produce to the SVFH for the grocery shelves, to be processed into value-added products or for use in ready-to-eat meals. These products are then marketed collectively as “Southern Virginia” in origin. This aids in branding the region as a whole, making it synonymous with quality cuisine.

The SVFH is a one of a kind, farmer raised and farmer made food retailer and the only one located in Southern Virginia, benefiting numerous agribusinesses. It is the only one in the United States combining the commercial kitchen, dairy processing room, deli, educational classes, and local food grocery opportunity for farmers and producers of all kinds and serves as a model for other similar projects across the country.