Improving Food Safety at Ananda Gardens for Montpelier based CSA

What did you do?

We retro fitted about half of our 1950's dairy barn to be a year round wash and pack station. It hadn't housed cows since the 1980's and was in need of some TLC. First we demolished the interior, removing all the milking equipment, existing walls and opening up the space entirely. We then had to reinforce and rebuild the exterior walls and reside the barn as it was in worse shape than we had anticipated. We put a waterline in 4+ feet deep, encasing it in 4" pvc ("as our excavator said"dig it once and never again") and covered it with insulation. We put in windows, including a large repurposed one on the south wall. We insulated the walls and ceiling with 8" of insulation, to ensure a comfortable year round space. We covered all surfaces that will be close to sprayed water with trusscore and the ceiling and other wall with shiplap pine. We wired in outlets and overhead lighting. And finally installed a large double door for access and two single doors, one to the outside for access and one into the rest of the barn where we plan to build a walk in cooler and expand if needed.

Why did you do it?

We spend a lot of time washing and packing produce. It is an absolutely key part of a sustainable and profitable business for us. We wanted a clean and enclosed space to ensure it meets and exceeds produce safety requirements. We also wanted a very comfortable and inviting space, as we envisioned all the hours, weeks, and months we expect to spend in this space over the next decades. We decided to use the existing structure because we did not have the resources to build a whole new building and we wanted to reuse resource that was already onsite.

About how much did it cost?

$14,000

How did it help?

2019 is the first year we will be using our space. I anticipate it will increase our efficiency and our comfort as we will be working in a bright and enclosed room with food safe paneling for the first time ever. It will also help us to extend our sales throughout the year.

What are you most pleased with?

We are most pleased with the amount of insulation we put in. It is totally comfortable to be in during the day without added heat even when it is freezing outside. We are incredibly pleased with the cleanliness and brightness of the trusscore panels, and also love the natural wood we included which makes it feel alive.

Any mistakes or lessons learned?

When you decide to retrofit an existing structure be ready for a lot of unforeseen costs. We wouldn't change our decision to work with the barn, but it took a lot more time that we anticipated. We also thought we would also redo the floor with our budget, but where shocked by the estimates we received to redo the existing concrete floor. It would have cost nearly half our entire budget to refinish the floor!