$3.4M in grants awarded to strengthen Washington state’s local food system

The Washington state Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has awarded $3.4 million in Local Food System Infrastructure Grants to unlock new sales channels for local farmers, provide lower costs for small businesses through efficiency improvements and increase consumer access to healthy, high-quality and culturally relevant foods, according to a WSDA news release.

“These grant projects tackle persistent infrastructure barriers faced by local producers that restrict their ability to sell to schools and other markets in their community,” said Laura Raymond, manager of the WSDA Regional Markets Program. “We look forward to continuing to support rural farm economies and ensuring a level playing field for our vital small farms and food businesses. Each one of the 276 applications represents an opportunity to do this.”

WSDA awarded a total of 82 projects across 31 counties, with grant amounts ranging from $13,019 to $75,000.

Local projects to receive grants include:

​​• Chinook Run Salmon LLC, Grays Harbor County, given $51,255 to purchase a refrigerated Sprinter van, walk-in freezer and electrical setup to expand tribal cold-storage and distribution capacity.

• Hillstead Farm, Lewis County, given $26,024 to retrofit its accessory dwelling unit (ADU) into a WSDA-licensed kitchen to produce value-added products that strengthen the local food system.

• Mom's Micro Garden, Lewis County, given $50,000 to purchase a refrigerated van in which it can transport fresh microgreens and produce boxes aggregated from Washington state farmers to customers.

• Rahn's Mobile Farm Butchering LLC, Lewis County, given $55,000 to purchase a new refrigerated slaughter box that will be professionally built to increase occupancy space for carcasses as well as for entrails.

• Woodland Creek Honey Farm, Thurston County, given $17,494 to handle growing capacity and to serve other local beekeepers, two honey storage and bottling tanks, a honey strainer and filter, and honey-warming equipment.

For a full list of recipients, visit https://tinyurl.com/yrm7ys8r. 

“These grant investments are ensuring food business entrepreneurs remain engines for innovation, growth and sustainability in Washington’s vibrant local food economy,” said Derek Sandison, director of the Washington state Department of Agriculture, said. “The high demand for Regional Markets programs is a testament to the continued need for this scale of investment in our local food system.”

Local Food System Infrastructure Grants are projects of the Regional Markets Program that contribute to WSDA’s Focus on Food Initiative, which aims to esnure that safe, nutritious food is effectively produced and distributed throughout Washington, the release stated.

For future grant opportunities, visit agr.wa.gov/grants.