Seven Maine organizations are receiving over $700,000 in federal investments to promote the local food economy thanks to funding Congresswoman Chellie Pingree was able to insert in the Farm Bill that passed Congress in2014.
"Every dollar we put into the local food economy stays in our community and generates jobs and income for the people who live here. Building the farm economy is good for families who want to put fresh food on the table, good for farmers who want to grow their businesses and good for the environment by reducing the pollution that comes from transporting food thousands of miles," Pingree said.
The grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are parts of programs to support farmers markets, local food producers and helpSNAP (food stamp) recipients take better advantage of fresh food at farmersmarkets.
The funding, which was part of Pingree's Local Farms Food and Jobs Act, was eventually incorporated into the 2014 Farm Bill, which Congress passed and President Obama signed.
"Maine is making great progress in growing our local farm economy," Pingree said. "The number of farmers markets in the state continues to increase, the number ofyoung farmers is growing rapidly and organic farming is growing faster in Maine than in any other state in the country. We have some great momentum and we need to keep it going by making these kind of investments."
Among the grants Pingree announced today are $100,000 to help Cultivating Community in Portland launch a mobile food market, $250,000 to help make it easier for SNAP beneficiaries to use farmers markets and $50,000 tohelp finance upgrades to cold storage equipment for the Gardiner Food Co-op.
The full list of grants in Maine includes:
- Maine Federation of Farmers Markets received $99,000 to "Increase domestic consumer consumption of locally sourced foods by developing an educational campaign to inform the public about the multiple benefits provided by farmers’ markets, and facilitating the annual Maine Farmers’ Market Snapshot Week, that will keep local foods and local farmers in the spotlight. "
- Cultivating Community received $99,614 for "Leveraging a Food Hub and Launching a Mobile Market to Develop a Value Chain Benefitting Local Producers and Low-Income Consumers in Maine". This project will increase the scale and operations of the recipient’s food hub while launching a mobile food market.
- Forq LLC received $100,000 for the establishment of the FORQ Food Lab in Portland, Maine. This project will launch Maine's first private, membership-based kitchen incubator. The organization will enroll entrepreneurs to scale-up home enterprises to full-time operations and find markets for raw, underutilized food.
- Cumberland County received $25,000 for the Lakes Region Food System Planning Project. This project will produce a food system plan that will examine 15 existing rural food economies, the present state of local agriculture, and current initiatives at the local level. The organization will identify the highest potential opportunities for increasing local food sales.
- Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission received $25,000 for an Initiative to Explore the Feasibility of a York County Food Hub. This organization will conduct a feasibility study to determine the need for a potential food hub and local food marketing plan.
- Blue Sky Produce received $51,630 for a Wild Blueberry Shipping Hub. This project establishes a shipping hub to provide aggregation, storage, and distribution services for small and mid-scale wild blueberry growers. Other regional food producers will also use the hub to store and ship their products.
- Gardiner Food Co-op received $53,955 for "Cooling it: A modernized and customized refrigeration system as the focal point for increasing sales of local foods at the Gardiner Food Co-op. " This project will upgrade existing co-op equipment to new, energy efficient, remote refrigeration units.
- Maine Federation of Farmers' Markets received $249,677 for "Building a SNAP Support System for Maine Farmers Markets." The Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets will use funds to provide training for market managers and farmers on EBT, provide support and technical assistance for local farmers markets, produce and utilize SNAP-Farmers Market communication tools, update EBT training manual, implement a branding campaign in conjunction with FINI, and develop and train market liaisons.
