The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted to distribute funding to fifteen Community Food and Farm Grant awardees on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. All applicants have received notification of their selection status to the email address provided in their application.
The award recipients for the second Community Food and Farm Grant cycle are:
- Africando Foods $25,000
- Andale Cantina, Inc $25,000
- Black Diamond Halal Meats $19,700
- Berry Basket Farm $25,000
- Buffalo Ridge Orchard $20,000
- Camp Creek Organic Produce $23,875
- Da Flava Unit $25,000
- Eastern Iowa Young Farmers Coalition $25,000
- Grimm Family Farm $25,000
- Iowa City Free Lunch Program $6,842
- Iowa Grown $15,000
- Mama’s Kitchen $14,525
- Short’s Family Farm $3,560
- Snacky Mini Mart $11,874
- Tangled Roots Farm $20,000
The Board of Supervisors invested $285,376 total in the second Community Food and Farm Grant cycle. Funding for this grant results from Johnson County’s investment of funds received from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted small farms, small food businesses, and households, affecting how food is grown, sold, and accessed. In response to these impacts on the local food system, Johnson County created the Community Food and Farm Grant. This grant is available to small farms and food businesses, nonprofits, and individuals who produce, process, or distribute community-based food for consumption in Johnson County, or enable these activities. Applicants can request $1,000 to $25,000 to fund projects that meet at least one of the following goals:
- Farm and food businesses grow, process, cook, or distribute more community-based food
- Farm and food business workers and/or entrepreneurs develop skills to improve their businesses through education and technical assistance
- Low-income communities have more opportunities to access community-based food
Applications were open from Sept. 22, 2023, to Oct 27, 2023. Johnson County received 40 applications of which 36 were deemed eligible. Eligible applications were evaluated by a review committee comprised of Local Food staff and select members of the Johnson County Food Policy Council. The review committee met on Nov. 27, 2023, to develop a funding recommendation. Staff presented this recommendation to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 13, 2023. Recommended applications demonstrated a strong ability to meet one or more grant goal(s), will make both short- and long-term impacts on the community-based food system, and are feasible to complete within the grant timeline.
More information about projects awarded funding is available at www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/localfoods/grant.
More information about the American Rescue Plan Act and how it impacts Johnson County is available at https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/arpa.