Seventeen Indiana Farming Organizations Awarded Funding to Support Food Chain Resiliency

Seventeen farm and food organizations across Indiana have been awarded a total of more than $6.7 million in federal funding from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), in partnership with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). These grants will build resilience across the middle of the supply chain while strengthening local and regional food systems.

“Indiana farmers work hard to produce millions of pounds of fruits, vegetables and other pantry staples each year that are eventually shipped across state lines or do not even make it to market,” said Lt.Governor Micah Beckwith, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “This grant funding will ensure more Hoosiers are fed by Hoosiers and that these organizations can better serve their communities.”

The funded projects are as follows:

• Shop Kid LLC, (Marion County) will use the funds to construct a new co-packing facility dedicated to the processing of local fruits, grains, and vegetables for the manufacturing of value-added products. In addition to the construction of a new facility, this project will be installing cold storage and processing equipment to allow for the manufacturing, wholesaling, and distribution of value-added products. This project will create several dozen new jobs in multiple locations throughout the Marion County region.
• Summer Solstice Farms, (Jefferson County) Summer Solstice Farms will utilize Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant funds to construct a new processing, aggregation, and storage facility in Southeast Indiana to help small farmers gain access to institutional and wholesale markets.
• Produce Patch, LLC, (Daviess County) a specialty crop producer and processor in Plainville, will use grant funds to expand with a new facility. This expansion would help add capacity to service four or more new distribution channels. This would also allow us to increase the amount of local produce aggregated, packaged and washed for community partners like Daviess County Hospital and North Daviess Schools.
• J.L. Hawkins Farm, (Wabash County) will utilize Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant funds to overcome inadequate aggregation/co-packing, storage, and distribution facilities by constructing an on-farm building and to overcome inadequate post-harvest processing facilities by upgrading a current open-air post-harvest processing area.
• Beneker Family Farms, (Franklin County) will utilize grant funds to assist in the creation of the Southeastern Indiana Food Hub. The food hub’s primary focus is to create opportunities for all regional farmers to improve food supply resilience by developing and expanding their middle of the supply chain capacity.
• Crystal Lake, LLC, (Kosciusko County) will use the funds for the installation of new equipment that will allow Crystal Lake to produce extended shelf-life egg products and additional hard cook packaging at their plant located in Kosciusko County. Rather than relying on co-packers located in other states, this project will create a local co-packer and pasteurizer option for Crystal Lake and other local egg producers.
• Mills Family Farms Pasture Raised Meats LLC, (Cass County) plans to utilize grant funds to build a grain milling facility, including cold storage and packaging capabilities, for specialty-milled grain flours, gluten-free flours, and stone-milled corn products.
• Four Leaf Honey Farm (FLHF), (Wayne County) of Richmond, Indiana will equip and operate an innovative honey storage, bottling, and labeling facility for the distribution of local honey.  Within this facility, FLHF will work with local beekeepers to source from and introduce local honey to the market, increase demand for local honey, and improve product availability.  FLHF honey packing facility will provide value-added processing, aggregation, and distribution services benefiting more than 35 underrepresented local farmers and honey producers. This project will open market opportunities for local beekeepers by creating novel infrastructure, ensuring the honey packing plant meets regulations, and increasing the local food supply by allowing smaller-scale Hoosier beekeepers to collectively enter 10 tons of local honey into broader regional food markets annually.
• Soul Food Project (SFP), (Marion County) will use the funds to expand its food distribution capacity in Indianapolis by acquiring cold storage and a refrigerated van. Operating four farm sites, SFP intends to bolster production capacity and streamline the distribution of fresh, locally grown produce for itself and five partner farms to local food pantries and local grocery stores. Critical to its operations, SFP requires cold storage to optimize the efficiency and safety of harvesting and storing produce at its sites. Additionally, a refrigerated van is prioritized to ensure secure transportation of said produce between sites and to external markets without relying on external delivery services.  Soul Food project plans to bring an additional ten local producers into the project and develop three new distribution market outlets.
• Clay Bottom Farm, (Elkhart County) will purchase and utilize a delivery vehicle to aggregate and distribute 10,000 pounds of vegetables annually from four regional farms to three wholesale outlets. With this vehicle, Clay Bottom Farm will work with local growers of Elkhart Country to source from and introduce new produce to the market, increase demand for locally sourced food, and fill area gaps and unmet market demand. Clay Bottom Farm’s delivery vehicle will benefit a minimum of ten local farmers and producers. This will enhance market opportunities for local farmers by creating jobs in the middle of the supply chain, ensuring the delivery van meets regulations, and increases the local food supply to various middle-of-the-supply chain outlets.

• Unvarnished Farm, (Jefferson County) a small-scale regenerative operation, will purchase a mobile refrigerated trailer and more efficient wash/pack station to process and deliver fresh produce to more counties in Southeast Indiana. The mobile refrigerated trailer will allow Unvarnished Farm to travel widely, increasing the integrity and variety of the produce offered, while partnering with other local producers to combine trips to locations in three communities. The larger, more efficient wash/pack station will allow Unvarnished Farm to increase the quantity and quality of goods delivered. This project will increase the financial viability of Unvarnished Farm, allowing it and other local producers to scale their product and geographic footprint while providing high quality, safe, and fresh local producer to markets, food banks and pantries, restaurants and other outlets.
• Davis Family Farms, (Washington County) will acquire a refrigerated delivery truck, egg washer, grader, and vegetable washing equipment. The vegetable and egg wash equipment will ensure all products meet food safety standards and are efficiently clean and ready for sales. This equipment will strengthen Davis Farms’ ability to rapidly take on greater demand when circumstances require.
• Families Anchored in Total Harmony, Inc. (FAITH CDC), (Lake County) will expand its production and distribution of local produce. With the purchase of a refrigerated/freezer truck, FAITH CDC will increase transportation and distribution capacity with expected outcomes that include increased market opportunities for local producers, increased efficiency, improved cost effectiveness, enhanced opportunity for continued growth, and overall resilience of middle-of-the-food-supply-chain activities in Northwest Indiana.
• HenABen Farm, (Ripley County) seeks to expand its processing of dehydrated mushrooms and vegetables. The primary goal of this project is to acquire food processing and dehydrating equipment to create and distribute shelf-stable, value-added mushroom and vegetable products, promoting healthy alternatives for consumers and expanding economic opportunities for producers. This initiative will open new market outlets for local vegetable producers, such as grocery and health food stores, farmers’ markets, and with a local health practitioner.
• Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, (Marion County) will expand its transportation fleet by acquiring a refrigerated tractor/trailer. This addition will increase the amount of food sourced from local and regional growers for Gleaners’ network partners throughout a 21-county service area, prioritizing local fresh fruits and vegetables. This truck will pick up approximately 40,000 pounds of food three times a week during growing season (up to 1,500,000 pounds of food annually) from a network of growing partners. By adding another unit to its fleet, Gleaners can incrementally increase the number of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs it is able to source and distribute from local agriculture to its service area from local Indiana farmers.
• Orange County Cooperative Development Corporation , (Orange County) will use the funds to increase capacity to aggregate, process, and distribute quality foods captured at peak season for distribution throughout the year. By gathering fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers to flash freeze, dehydrate, and quality seal, the shelf life of local products will be extended. This in turn will help to provide local fruits and vegetables year-round to areas within the south-central region of Indiana. Enhancements offered will include convenient meal kits, ready-made sealed meals, and better access to farm stands. This middle-of-the-supply-chain project will benefit growers, farmers, and consumers alike with more readily available food while reducing product waste.
• Slaughter Orchard and Cidery, (Monroe County) will increase middle-supply-chain food reliance by using specialty equipment to expand its sales season of local apples and cider by at least five additional months. By purchasing a straddler stacker to safely stack bushels of apples in cold storage space, this will triple storage capacity. Additional cider equipment purchase will help to create more value-added products like carbonated sweet cider, ice cider, and hard cider—and allow for additional distribution to 11+ Indiana cideries and wineries that currently purchase bulk juice from out-of-state cider mills. Distribution to 12 different vendors may be doubled or more, and stakeholders will have a greater variety of apples and better fruit quality with this increased cold storage and additional distribution capacity, so more fresh heirloom apples can get to farm markets, co-ops, whole food stores, and groceries across central Indiana.

“These seventeen organizations already do so much for their communities, and we are grateful that alongside USDA we could support them even further,” said Don Lamb, Indiana State Department of Agriculture director. “This funding will ensure food grown in local communities stays in local communities and this will allow our Hoosier farmers to increase their capacity and continue to build their businesses.”

This awarded funding is part of the $420 million available through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant program to build capacity within the middle of the supply chain and support local and regional producers. It is funded by USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Through this program, AMS has entered into cooperative agreements with state agencies, commissions, or departments responsible for agriculture, commercial food processing, seafood, or food system and distribution activities or commerce activities in states or U.S. territories.

For more information, visit the AMS Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure webpage: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/rfsi/rfsi-rfa-status.

Source: Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).