Community Kitchen
Located in the basement of the West Townshend Country Store, the WRCP Community Kitchen is a commercial kitchen space that was built with the goal of supporting local growers and food producers in starting up and expanding their businesses.
The community kitchen provides an accessible commercial kitchen where producers can be licensed by the State of Vermont Department of Health, and make products that can be sold more widely than products produced in home kitchens. It also offers a space for individuals and families to process bulk quantities of produce and other goods for their own consumption.
Thanks to help from a USDA grant and contributions from the local community, the space is equipped with a six-burner gas range stovetop and oven, two convection ovens, a 20-quart mixer, a steam kettle, a commercial dishwasher, and plenty of work and storage space.
Another major goal of the community kitchen is to provide a space for food-related educational events and workshops. The kitchen has hosted workshops on making kimchi, applesauce, yogurt, and kefir, brewing with many more educational events on the way including baking with sourdough, and ServSafe food handler training. The events are open to all and the community is encouraged to attend.