The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted to distribute funding to 17 Community Food and Farm Grant awardees on July 24, 2024. All applicants have received notification of their selection status to the email address provided in their application.
The award recipients for the third round of the Community Food and Farm Grant Cycle are:
- 5M Emprendimiento Latino, LLC $25,000
- Baladna Farm $25,000
- Cachua Cakes LLC $18,000
- Elida’s Bakery LLC $20,000
- Farmers’ Toolshed, LLC $25,000
- Garden Oasis Farm LLC $25,000
- Iowa Farm Fresh Meats, LLC $20,000
- Kandakat Sudan LLC $24,000
- Mazees Food Truck, Dolly Sperry $20,000
- Nomadic Foods LLC $13,500
- Rodneys Jamaican Jerk & BBQ LLC $15,000
- Singing Goat Farms, LLC $11,500
- Slammin Jammin Wings N Things LLC $23,000
- Table to Table Food Distribution Network $10,000
- Trowel & Error Farm LLC $25,000
- Wild Woods Farm LLC $25,000
- Yotopia Frozen Yogurt $25,000
In Nov. 2021, The Board of Supervisors invested $200,000 of Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support local food initiatives to increase food security. Johnson County has administered two cycles of the Community Food and Farm Grant. In the most recent cycle, Johnson County funded 15 of the 40 applications received, totaling around $285,000 in grant awards. $350,000 was available for this grant cycle.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated a need to increase access to fresh, nutritious food and support the small farms and food businesses that feed the community and faced significant disruptions from the pandemic. The Community Food and Farm Grant aims to address these needs by funding projects that increase community-based food production, processing, and distribution capacity to improve food security in Johnson County. The grant was available to small farm and food businesses, nonprofits and individuals who produce, process, or distribute community-based food for consumption in Johnson County, or enable these activities. Applicants could request $1,000-$25,000 to fund costs such as the purchase of equipment and supplies for growing, processing, or distributing food, business development opportunities, or the creation of free food distribution sites.
The application opened on March 15, 2024, and closed on April 12, 2024. Johnson County hosted three application clinics to offer assistance and answer questions. Johnson County received 48 applications. Applications deemed eligible were scored using a rubric developed by Local Foods Staff and the Johnson County Food Policy Council. Council members and staff used scores to assist with creating a funding recommendation presented to the Board of Supervisors on July 24, 2024. The recommended applicants all submitted projects that had high alignment with the program goals and have the potential to make both short-term and long-term impacts on Johnson County’s community-based food system. More information about the projects awarded funding is available at www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/localfoods/grant.
Johnson County is committed to utilizing ARPA funds to enhance investments in public services and maximize the impacts of our local fiscal recovery allocation. The County's ARPA Team has been working since February 2021 to build a planning framework and administer funding to benefit Johnson County residents.
More information about the American Rescue Plan Act and how it impacts Johnson County is available at https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/arpa.