By Mary Sell & Alabama Daily News
Alabama agriculture officials are hoping a new federally funded grant program will strengthen the middle of the state’s food supply chain, help Alabamians access more locally grown foods and reduce food waste.
The federal Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program was funded with $420 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, $6.4 million of which was dedicated to Alabama projects to support businesses in the middle of the food supply. Those are the entities that can take the products from farms and package and distribute them to end markets, including stores or schools.
“We see the RFSI program as a win-win, as it bridges the gap in the middle of the food supply chain,” Rick Pate, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, told Alabama Daily News. “It will help farmers with direct consumer sales by providing funding for processing, storing, transporting and distributing their farm fresh products.”
The minimum grant amount is $100,000 and applications are due Jan. 15.
“This is one of those really unique opportunities where not only are we investing in communities, but we’re getting to bring the agriculture and the economic development pieces together,” said program coordinator Meredith Casey.
Casey said the middle of the supply chain could be anything from storage to aggregation, processing, transportation and distribution.