
Kearsarge Food Hub
Cultivating Food Sovereignty, Growing Engaged Learners, Nurturing Community
As a nonprofit organization serving the greater Kearsarge Area, we envision a resilient and connected community where everyone is empowered to access healthy local food, where farmers are supported and the land is nourished, and all people share a common sense of place!
Kearsarge Food Hub is on a mission to reinvigorate our community within a restorative local food system through cultivating food sovereignty, growing engaged learners, and nurturing community.
Hub happenings
Kearsarge Food Hub’s 2024 Annual Report

We’re thrilled to present it to you in this 2024 Annual Report: Growing Together!
The impact the food hub had over the past year in the Kearsarge region is made possible by the generosity of many caring hands and hearts, from donors to shoppers to volunteers to community partners.
Dig into Kearsarge Food Hub’s 2024 Annual Report for the full scope of our impact and to read inspiring stories of neighbors making a difference.


In case you missed it…
Kearsarge Food Hub’s Annual Meeting recording is now up!
Events like this truly energize us by highlighting the strength of our community and what we can achieve together.
A special thank you to Nicole Cardwel for sharing insights on the NH Food & Agriculture Strategic Plan. We gained valuable knowledge about the necessary improvements in our food system and the importance of strategic collaboration in making progress!
We feel inspired by all the many ways this community contributes to a viable, secure and joyful food system. And still, we know there is much work to be done to continue bringing our vision of a resilient food system and connected community into focus.

Grow with us!! Become a monthly donor today.
Help Sweet Beet recover from the recent fire and secure the future of essential community services that support farmers, feeds neighbors, and connects community at a time of great need.
Every dollar makes a difference. Whether it’s $10, $25, or $100 a month, your ongoing support is an investment in resilience—helping us rebuild today and strengthening our ability to weather whatever challenges come next.
Events
Come on down to Sweet Beet Market + Café to sample delicious brews from our friends at Feathered Friend Brewery on Saturday, April 26th!
Have a taste of their many varieties of locally brewed craft beer, and pick some up to take and enjoy at home with friends.
Join us for our Memorial Day Weekend Garden Party Plant Sale Extravaganza!
Saturday May 24th from 11 AM to 2 PM
@ 11 West Main Street in Bradford, NH - Home of Sweet Beet Market and Cafe
Get your organic plant starts from Sweet Beet Farm, enjoy beer tastings (+ more!), eat delicious food, listen to live music and ask all your farming and gardening questions to our Local Farmers!
We will have compost for sale and it will be a great day to gather as community and kick off this year’s growing season!
Happy Spring - see you there!
Join us on the lawn at Sweet Beet Market + Café for a day of family fun! Each year we invite you to come experience the beauty and bounty of our local food system and community partners, including live music, special menu in the café, games and activities for kids and adults, fairyland, goats, and more!
2025 will be an extra special year as we celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Save the date and don’t miss it.
The community fair is free and open to all.
Our annual Love Local virtual event is an opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn about farm and food system partners who make our community food web vibrant, resilient, and joyful!
Tune in online for exclusive videos made on-site with featured partners and a lively discussion about the current state and future of our local food system.
Save the date and stay tuned in for more information on this year’s Love Local theme and featured partners and for your chance to sign up to join us for this free event!
From the blog
Farmers play a crucial role in addressing climate change, and our agricultural land holds significant potential for environmental recovery - yet much hangs in the balance with federal funding freezes and the uncertainty of how we transition to regenerative agriculture.
Soil-building has been a primary focus on Kearsarge Food Hub’s Sweet Beet Farm for the past 5 years. The difference in crop yield and resilience on the farm is tremendous.
Farms that are equipped to embrace regenerative methods can create a win-for-all scenario: sequestering carbon in the soil, responsibly managing resources, bolstering supply chains, and providing safe, nutritious food for a growing population.
The Kearsarge Food Hub community showed up in a big way in 2024 to make tremendous strides toward building a resilient food system and connected community!
We’re thrilled to present it to you in this 2024 Annual Report: Growing Together!
The impact the food hub had over the past year in the Kearsarge region is made possible by the generosity of many caring hands and hearts, from donors to shoppers to volunteers to community partners.
We had a wonderful 2025 Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 12th and wanted to make sure you got the chance to check it out if you missed it - watch the full recording here!
Events like this truly energize us by highlighting the strength of our community and what we can achieve together. A special thank you to Nicole Cardwell for sharing about the NH Food & Agriculture Strategic Plan. We gained valuable insights into the necessary improvements in our food system and the importance of strategic collaboration in making progress!
We feel inspired by all the many ways this community contributes to a viable, secure and joyful food system. And still, we know there is much work to be done to continue bringing our vision of a resilient food system and connected community into focus…
Join us, the NH Food Alliance, the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, and all the people working across New Hampshire’s food system as we celebrate the official release of the 2025 New Hampshire Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan!
The plan exists both in print and as an interactive online platform, offering a wealth of information and recommendations for harnessing the power of collaboration to strengthen our food system.
Kearsarge Food Hub is honored to have contributed to the authoring of this Strategic Plan, alongside the expertise and guidance of hundreds of food system professionals.
We’re continuing to recover from the damage caused by a building fire where Sweet Beet Market + Cafe operates back on February 18th. In the effort to keep our community informed on our progress and what to expect, we have a brief update on how the recovery is going.
We hoped the building repairs would not include ripping up the kitchen floor where the fire burned, but unfortunately this could not be avoided. The floor has been partially torn up to remove char-damaged materials and mitigate long term issues. By taking care of this now, we will not have to worry about addressing it and having to close kitchen operations in the future.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, is a food access program funded by the United States Department Agriculture (USDA).
The funding and administration of SNAP involve collaboration among the Secretary of Agriculture, Congress, and the Farm Bill. Changing administrations can mean big or small changes to federal funding and prioritization of programs like SNAP.
This is a good time to review what this program does and how it supports low income families as there are significant budget cuts making their way through Congress that will have real impacts on millions of Americans.
Since the fire that broke out at 11 West Main Street in mid-February rendered Sweet Beet Kitchen temporarily closed, the community has rallied to help keep our services going strong and it’s positively uplifting!
Blue Loon Bakery in New London bakes delicious breads of all kinds and makes yummy sandwiches, soups, quiche, and more. Find their goodies at Sweet Beet on the weekends while our kitchen is closed!
Blue Loon Bakery in New London reached out immediately after the fire to offer support and ended up sending over pastries, sandwiches, quiche and soups to satisfy customers the first weekend after the fire. They have committed to continuing to provide goods as long as needed and we’re all so grateful…
As many have heard, there was a fire at 11 West Main st, home of Sweet Beet, on Tuesday, February 18th.
Fortunately, no one was hurt and the fire was contained. We extend our gratitude to Sweet Beet staff members Cassie and Micayla for noticing the fire and taking quick action, the first responders, and Bradford, Henniker, Warner, and New London fire departments for their efficient work in stopping the spread of the fire.
Sweet Beet Café will unfortunately be closed as we undergo significant repairs, but some goodies will still be available thanks to beautiful community support!
Read more for details…
As the sun shines and the January freeze bites at our noses, we’re celebrating ten amazing years at the Kearsarge Food Hub!
From our humble beginnings at Sweet Beet Farm Stand, our journey has been fueled by the unwavering support of our loving community, passionate supporters, and dedicated team.
There is so much to reflect on as we near the end of another incredible, dynamic, and yes, challenging, year here at the Kearsarge Food Hub.
Join us in reflecting on the past year.
We’re all smiles reflecting on this 2024’s Season of Gratitude & Giving, feeling the love and the solidarity with an incredible community of supporters!!
In 2024, the Abenaki Seeds Project celebrated its 4th year in the Kearsarge Area, and the impact continues to deepen with each year.
The 4th Annual Love Local event here at the Kearsarge Food Hub focused on folks in the middle of the food chain.
Tray it Forward is a project that began in the spring of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to help folks grow their own food and connect around gardening.
As we observe Indigenous Peoples Day, we share our deepest gratitude to the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation and their generous efforts sharing Indigenous heritage and knowledge with the community.
2023 was a particularly challenging growing season for New England farmers and food producers, given the extreme weather events across the region and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
In the news
The Kearsarge Food Hub, in Bradford, New Hampshire, will celebrate its 10th year in 2025. Since its founding as Sweet Beet Farm a decade ago it has been transforming the concept of what a food hub is. Read more!
Lauren Howard was at home, recovering from a cold, when she got the news that Sweet Beet Market and Café, the store she’d spent the last decade building, was on fire.
It was the last thing any business owner wants to hear.
The Climate Farmers Stories exhibit at Sweet Beet Market and Café in Bradford is telling the stories of local farmers who are responding to climate change. Read more.