Virginia’s Community Canneries

Abstract

The Commonwealth of Virginia currently has eleven remaining seasonally operating community canneries located in nine counties, most of which are located in the rural central and southwest portion of the state. Ten of those canneries are operated and supported by their local county governments, while one has been acquired and is operated by a non-profit organization. Three of our canneries qualify by the Virginia Department of Agriculture as facilities certified for the production of commercial value added food items processed for resale. This publication will outline those canneries and give information on how and when to access them as well as discussions on the feasibility trends and potential future of these icons from the past.