WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced 27 awards today to local organizations to build community food systems and fight hunger and food insecurity. These awards were made through USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
"Fighting hunger and food insecurity in the United States is a top priority for the Obama administration," said Vilsack. "The Community Food Projects grants give low-income communities the tools and resources they need to become self-sufficient in meeting their food needs while also responding to the nutritional issues of the community."
The organizations receiving awards were selected through NIFA's Community Food Projects program. The current projects, totaling $4.8 million in funding, will fund food policy council training, urban agriculture, new farmers on preservation farmland, promotion of native food sovereignty, youth, urban and rural food production projects and community food assessments. Community Food Projects have been funded in nearly to 300 communities in 48 states during its 14-year history.
The primary goals of the Community Food Projects program are to (1) meet the food needs of low-income individuals; (2) increase the food self-reliance of low-income communities; (3) promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm and nutrition issues; and (4) meet specific state, local or neighborhood food and agricultural needs, including needs relating to infrastructure improvement and development, planning for long-term solutions and the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers.
Fiscal Year 2010 awards include:
* Chugachmiut, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, $25,000
* Community Serviced Unlimited, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., $299,375
* California State University, Monterey Bay, Calif., $250,000
* Common Good City Farm, Washington, D.C., $170,000
* Athens Land Trust, Athens, Ga., $287,690
* Our School at Blair Grocery, New Orleans, La., $299,600
* Angelic Organics Learning Center, Rockford, Ill., $299,184
* Four Directions Development Corporation, Bangor, Maine, $30,000
* Community Teamwork, Inc., Lowell, Mass., $45,543
* Community Action Duluth, Duluth, Minn., $19,805
* Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., $299,410
* Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources, Hattiesburg, Miss., $299,693
* National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte, Mont., $297,757
* YMCA of Central New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M., $180,342
* Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, Ithaca, N.Y., $24,997
* Why Hunger, New York, N.Y., $250,000
* Myrtle Ave Commercial Revitalization and Development, New York, N.Y., $212,280
* New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Rochester, N.Y., $25,000
* Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties, Dayton, Nev., $300,000
* Corvallis Environmental Center, Corvallis, Ore., $25,000
* Adelante Mujeres, Forest Grove, Ore., $20,185
* Community Food Security Coalition, Portland, Ore., $250,000
* Southside Community Land Trust, Providence, R.I., $25,000
* Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, Wash., $25,000
* FareStart, Seattle, Wash., $299,545
* Fondy Food Center, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisc., $289,594
* Growing Power, Milwaukee, Wisc., $250,000
Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the nation's future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.
