Local Food and Farm Program awards four grants
Posted: March 13, 2013
The Local Food and Farm Program has selected four projects to receive funding in 2013 that move toward the goal of strengthening Iowa's local food economy.
The Local Food and Farm Program (LFFP), coordinated by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, is part of an initiative established by the Iowa Legislature in 2011. The program's advisory council awarded $28,581 to four special projects, an increase of more than $10,000 from last year.
Rich Wrage, Boone County Extension and Outreach, received $9,872 to investigate the feasibility of a partnership between a local food aggregator and a catering business to share expenses.
Nick McCann, Winneshiek County Extension and Outreach, received $9,400 to help local food businesses become more competitive through vendor-managed inventories.
Diane Weiland, Wallace Centers of Iowa, received $6,824 to train apprentices interested in starting small farming operations.
Flannery Cerbin, National Center for Appropriate Technology, received $2,485 to collect stories and best practices from Iowa's Farm to School movement and archive them on a website.
"These projects will address several challenges in our current food system," said Lynn Heuss, LFFP assistant coordinator. "At the completion of these projects, because we have an evaluation strategy in place, we will have data that can potentially be used as templates around the state."
Learn more about LFFP at http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/content/local-food-and-farm-program.
