HARTFORD — Local organizations around the state were grant recipients of grants made possible through the Farm Aid concert in Hartford last September
Officials said Farm Aid invested $100,000 in 18 programs operating to support family farmers.
- Bridgeport Farmers Market Collaborative, Bridgeport to sustain Bridgeport Farmers Markets and local farmers.
- CitySeed, Inc., New Haven to support farm viability in Connecticut by building networks between Connecticut food businesses and farmers.
- Connecticut Farmland Trust, Hartford, to permanently protect farmland for agricultural use.
- KNOX, Inc., Hartford, for its incubator farm program that provides low-income beginning farmers with land, training and connections to scale up their production and launch their own family farming businesses.
- Green Village Initiative, Bridgeport,to cultivate new farmers in Bridgeport through Youth Leadership Programming for young people and Urban Farmer Training Programming for adults.
- Hartford Food System, Hartford, to engage farmers in the development of a Connecticut food system plan through Farmer Listening Tours.
Other grants around New England include:
- Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, Inc., South Deerfield, Massachusetts, to engage the community to support local agriculture not just as consumers, but also as advocates for a resilient and diverse local food economy.
- Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to deepen community connections in low-to-moderate income areas in Rhode Island.
- Real Food Challenge, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to create a system-wide shift in the university foodservice industry that consistently invests in family farms and sustainable food enterprises.
- Red Tomato, Plainville, Massachusetts, to help midsized growers through marketing efforts promoting advanced integrated pest management and agroecological tree fruit production.
- Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to strengthen their technical assistance for farmers, and for local food promotion in the Southeastern Massachusetts community.
- Land For Good, Keene, New Hampshire, to provide no- and low-cost coaching and advising to farm seekers, transitioning farm families and others who control farmland, and to support the New England Farmland Finder.
- Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Unity, Maine, to provide family farmers with ongoing resources to start farming, transition to more sustainable practices, and continue farming.
- New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, Lowell, Massachusetts, to grow and scale its farmer training programs and to establish the Central Incubator Training Site as a centralized beginning farmer training hub.
- The Carrot Project, Boston, Massachusetts, to foster a sustainable and diverse food system by supporting ecologically- and financially-sustainable small and midsize farms and food processors with financing and financial literacy training.
- The Livestock Institute of Southern New England, Westport, Massachusetts, to revitalize and strengthen livestock farming in southern New England by creating a meat processing facility and educational opportunities for partner farmers.
- Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council, Barre, Massachusetts, to bring together farmers, farm groups, environmental organizations, and other potential soil health proponents to advance soil health advocacy.
- Rural Vermont, Montpelier, Vermont, to lead the resurgence of community-scale agriculture through education, advocacy and organizing.