Matthew Roybal doesn’t look like a farmer.
Young, tan and professionally dressed, the 36-year-old Hillsborough resident looks more like a chef. But his interest in food extends beyond the kitchen.
“I’ve never had a desire to learn anything about farming, I just did through my food experience,” Roybal said.
“I just started asking basic questions: ‘Where is my food coming from? Who’s growing this?’”
Roybal is the manager of the soon-to-be-complete Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center in Hillsborough.
The center, set to open in April, will help small farmers in 22 counties bring their products to market much more cheaply by providing a facility for packaging and storing their crops.
He was introduced to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 15.
Roybal said he has experience working at each level of food production, and gained large-scale production experience working as a chef for Whole Foods Market in Chicago.
Roybal also participated in the company’s local initiative, volunteering to meet with the farmers who supplied Whole Foods.