A Coggon business is among the recipients of a grant from the Linn County Food Systems Council.
The Council has awarded $132,300 in grants to 12 local organizations through its Food Access, Resiliency, and Equity (FARE) Grant Program. The FARE Grant Program is a Linn County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded project administered by the Linn County Food Systems Council to replace lost public sector revenue in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Linn County Board of Supervisors allocated $250,000 in ARPA funding to support local food initiatives to increase food security.
Over the Moon Farm and Flowers was awarded a $20,000 grant. The women-owned flower and livestock business offers local delivery and Midwest meat shipping. In 2022, they had a 150+ member Flower CSA and produced 10,000+ pounds of direct to consumer meat.
Over the Moon says they are using the grant to purchase a walk-in freezer, which will allow them to dramatically increase their direct-to-consumer meat production of chicken, turkey, duck and pork and continue with year-round sales to feed our communities.
The other award recipients for the first FARE grant cycle are:
- Black Earth Gardens $15,000
- Buffalo Ridge Orchard $25,000
- Cathy Bayne $1,000
- Children of Promise Mentoring Program $1,300
- Echollective Farm $10,000
- United We March Forward $7,000
- Theo’s Produce $15,000
- Marion Cares $1,000
- Nupolu’s Emerging Farm $15,000
- Olivet Neighborhood Mission $15,000
- Southeast Linn Community Center $7,000
“The funded projects ranged from the purchase of a tractor and fencing materials to increase local production, to vehicles, cold storage, and kitchen equipment to help prepare and distribute food for those that need it,” said Food Systems Council member August Stolba. “Individually, each of the 12 funded projects will have a huge impact in Linn County, helping to build a more accessible, resilient, and equitable food system. Together, they paint an amazing picture of what an accessible, resilient, and equitable food system looks like.”
photo of Shae Pesek courtesy of Over the Moon
