Another 30 projects were awarded funding through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program including projects in Bowler, De Pere and Waupaca.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s gricultural Marketing Service partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to award $23.2 million for 30 projects. The 30 grants being announced today and the previously announced 41 Equipment Grants total 71 projects in Wisconsin funded through RFSI.
Examples of funded Infrastructure Grant projects are:
- Seasonal Harvest in De Pere, will strength its food aggregation hub by upgrading inventory management software, purchasing their first two delivery vehicles, and constructing a shared wash/pack facility. These upgrades will alleviate some of the logistical challenges of aggregating product from an increasing number of very small farms, some of which have no access to potable water or clean packing space. As a result of this grant, Seasonal Harvest will be able to procure from additional underserved farms to serve their growing community of customers, including the Green Bay Packers.
- The Stockbridge-Munsee Community in Bowler, will construct a facility to process and store food such as Lenape beans, Mohican corn, and Indigenous squash grown on their Tribal farm as part of their strategic plan to protect and promote local food and community self-governance. This project is part of a set of proposals coordinated by the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition (GLIFC) designed to form a statewide network of mid-supply-chain infrastructure-supporting economic opportunities for underserved producers across the state.
- Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative in Waupaca, will build out its existing warehouse and trucking fleet, optimizing distribution routes to collaborate with and link together sub-hub, or smaller on-farm, and Tribal aggregation initiatives across the state. This improvement will benefit an estimated 250 local and regional producers. The improved aggregation infrastructure will be used to focus distribution efforts to distressed communities, schools, and early childhood education programs, and smaller-scale grocery and food service buyers.
