A meeting for people interested in setting up a certified community kitchen in the Omak-Okanogan area is planned for 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, at the Okanogan County Community Action office, Okanogan.
     A community kitchen is a restaurant-style facility that is certified by the Okanogan County Health District and state Department of Health so individuals and groups can legally produce food products for resale, organizer Buck Orndorff said.
     It would give small-scale food growers, gardeners, farmers and orchardists the opportunity to develop value-added products, allow non-profit groups an opportunity to produce food products for fund-raisers, offer cooking and nutrition classes for low-income job training and the general public, and allow users to share a facility that would be too expensive to develop on an individual basis, he said.
     A community kitchen also would encourage the use and production of locally grown produce, meats and dairy products; community food sustainability through education and hands-on activities, and preservation of agricultural lands through the development of a community-wide awareness of the need for and desirability of being able to eat locally grown food, he said.
     More information is available from Orndorff, cerropunta@communitynet.org or 826-0530.