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Food21 in the News
June 26, 2025
Strengthening the Local Food System: Highlights from the June 16 Lunch & Learn
As part of the event, attendees were encouraged to explore Food21’s Essential Ingredients report, a comprehensive, data-backed look at the region’s food economy. The report outlines trends, challenges, and opportunities across the system and offers actionable strategies for strengthening local supply chains and regional collaboration.
July 14, 2025
A community food destination in Larimer enters its final renovation phase
It’s been a long time coming, but work on Celebration Hall, a food destination and community space in Larimer, is nearing the finish line.
Once completed, the innovative gathering spot in the former Larimer School will encompass a catering hall for large and small events, a food educational center, a business incubator and a hub for seniors and others to order and pick up groceries and hot meals. The project is the result of collaboration by community groups and nonprofits as well as both public and private contributions.
March 3, 2025
Derry farmer joins board of directors at food-centered nonprofit
Derry Township farmer Rick Ebert has joined the board of directors at Food21, a Pittsburgh-area nonprofit that works to create sustainable jobs, economic opportunity and access to nutrition by converting undervalued community assets into food-centered ventures.
March 4, 2025
Alum Alex Firestine is Pitt’s first Luce scholar
Firestine, the first Pitt student to be named a George J. Mitchell Scholar in 2024, is now the first Pitt graduate to join the Luce Scholars Program, a yearlong opportunity for emerging leaders to live and work in Asia. He will begin the program in June.
June 19, 2025
Food21 trumpets the power of Allegheny County’s local food economy
Joe Bute came to Pittsburgh from Chicago, but has been here long enough to witness many changes.
For one thing, he has seen the renaissance of Lawrenceville as both a food hub and a desirable place to live. These factors are not unrelated, he feels.
January 9, 2025
Allegheny Mountain Malt Wins Farm Show Prize
Barley grown in the Laurel Highlands for Allegheny Mountain Malt has won the blue-ribbon prize in the Corn and Small Grains category at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. Allegheny Mountain Malt is a project of Food21 of Pennsylvania.
June 4, 2024
Windy Bridges, Allegheny Mountain Malt to Produce Festival Brew
Allegheny Mountain Malt and Windy Bridges Brew LLC have announced that they will collaborate on producing a beer for the upcoming Barrel & Flow Fest. The two-time “#1 beer festival” in America according to US News voters will be held at The Stacks at 3 Crossings in Pittsburgh on Saturday, August 10.
December 6, 2023
Vince Mangini: Local farm-brewer collaboration makes Pittsburgh beer better
Brewers prefer to use local ingredients whenever possible, but local ingredients for making beer are hard to find in a place like western Pennsylvania. That includes the preferred main ingredient, malted barley, sometimes called malt.
December 1, 2023
Old school building in Larimer to be transformed into community event space
For 50 years, an old school building sat empty, but now it will be transformed into a new community event space, the Celebration Hall of Larimer.
The inside of the old Larimer School had boarded windows, a decaying roof, and overgrown landscaping outside.
“The auditorium, and theatre were a mess, it was a great hang-out for pigeons,” said Joe Bute, the president of Food21, and community partner.
November 14, 2023
From vacant school to vibrant event center: the Celebration Hall of Larimer is taking the neighborhood beyond survival mode
In community development, the focus is typically on fixing the essential things like crime, housing, main streets, or infrastructure. A topic like joy rarely enters the discussion.
August 28, 2023
Pittsburgh Brewing Partners With Giant Eagle On “Harvest PA” Helles Lager
Pittsburgh Brewing Company, in the wake of its popular summer release of Iron City Turner’s Ic’d Tea, has announced another local collaboration to produce Harvest PA Helles Lager. In a joint effort with Giant Eagle and Food21, Harvest PA is made with Pennsylvania-grown and produced Allegheny Mountain Malt and with Pennsylvania hops.
August 25, 2023
Work continues above and below ground of biomethane processor
Work is continuing above and under ground on the biomethane digestor, or processor, Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC plans for the 119 Business Park in Center Township, and could have in operation sometime next year.
December 30, 2022
Partnership Plans to Make Pennsylvania a Beef Leader
A partnership between a beef management company and a nonprofit aims to lessen risk for farmers and redefine the beef industry in Pennsylvania.
Keystone Farm Future and Food21 reached an agreement in early December to expand opportunities for farmers interested in transitioning to beef production while providing supermarkets with a secure supply of a quality product.
July 16, 2023
Food as a community development tool: how Food21 is working to create a resilient food economy in Larimer and beyond
Joe Bute is on an ambitious mission to transform Pittsburgh’s economy. Not through the now-preferred route of “eds and meds,” but rather, through something a little more tangible and familiar to us all—food.
October 20, 2022
PA Awards $1.78 Million in Grants for Producing, Promoting Pennsylvania Beers and Wines
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) approved grants totaling $1,788,924 for 21 projects to increase the production of Pennsylvania-made malt and brewed beverages and enhance the Pennsylvania beer industry through promotion, marketing, and research-based programs and projects, and to enhance the Pennsylvania wine industry and increase production of Pennsylvania-made wines.
August 15, 2022
Journal of Environmental and Public Health, August 15, 2022: Food Security as Ethics and Social Responsibility: An Application of the Food Abundance Index in an Urban Setting
High levels of food insecurity signal the presence of disparities and inequities in local food access that have been shown to negatively impact the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
March 30, 2021
Food21 “Brews” Up Latest Initiative, Farm to Tap
Food21 of Pennsylvania is launching Farm to Tap, a pilot program that creates a “hyperlocal” value chain from farms to malt houses to regional craft brewers. On April 17, All Saints Brewing Company in Greensburg, Pennsylvania will serve Old Hanna’s Town Ale, the region’s first craft beer entirely produced through local partnerships.
March 18, 2021
Awesome Farm to Tap Program Launches in Pennsylvania to Cultivate Hyperlocal Beers
Food21 of Pennsylvania wants to demonstrate the power of connecting local farms’ productive capacity to one of the fastest growing industries in the region – craft brewing. Last year it launched Farm to Tap, a pilot program that creates a hyperlocal value chain from farms to malt houses to regional craft brewers.
