Urban Edge Farm Food Hub takes shape among existing farm infrastructure
At Good Earth Farm in Cranston, the Garden Center & Farmers Co-Op is open, bursting with the colors and flavors of summer. Farmer-run and stocked with seasonal edible and ornamental annuals and perennials, the Co-Op is open Thursday through Sunday and welcomes anyone looking to grow. While you’re there, stop next door at Sanctuary Herbs for locally-crafted teas, tinctures, and culinary herbs.
Less than two miles up the road, a milestone years in the making is fast approaching. The Urban Edge Farm Food Hub, a post-harvest handling, storage, and distribution facility, is on track for full operation by the end of the year. Walk-in coolers, a commercial freezer, and space for future chopping, canning, and dehydrating equipment will fundamentally expand what farmers in SCLT’s network can do with the food they grow, providing the tools to store, process, and distribute harvests to more Rhode Islanders.
When the program started in 2016, we moved 3,500 pounds of fresh produce from local farmers to local eaters. In 2025, SCLT’s South Providence Healthy Food Hub saw the movement of 60,000 pounds of locally grown produce from farms to nutrition insecure neighbors. The Urban Edge Farm Food Hub will take this to a whole new scale.
