New Tools Bring Lenders to the Table for Local, Regional Food Enterprises FROM USDA: Open any food magazine these days and you’re bound to find a profile of the latest locavore start-up turning cream and cantaloupe into craft popsicles or maple sap into a whole new...
Read MoreNEW LOANS: Portable Storage and Handling Equipment From the USDA: COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 29, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide a new financing option to help farmers purchase portable storage and handling equipment. Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini and Agricultural Marketing...
Read MoreCertified Non-GE by AGW REDMOND, OR (MAY 9, 2016)-- A Greener World (AGW)--the leading sustainable farm certifier--is launching a new label:Certified Non-GE by AGW. This label will guarantee that a food product is produced without the use of genetically engineered (GE) feed, supplements or ingredients, and...
Read MoreUSDA Announces Cost-Share Program to Assist with Organic Certification From USDA: WASHINGTON, May 4, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced today that approximately $11.6 million is available through state departments of agriculture to make organic certification more affordable for...
Read MoreUSDA Offers New Resource to Help Food Hubs Improve Financial Performance From USDA: WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, April 28, 2016 — Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers today announced a new resource to help food hubs improve their financial performance. Food hubs, which are a...
Read MoreNew 'Urban Agriculture Toolkit' Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled the USDA Urban Agriculture Toolkit, a new resource created by USDA's Know Your Farmer team to help entrepreneurs and community leaders successfully create jobs and increase access to healthy food through urban agriculture. From neighborhood gardens...
Read MoreNPR PROGRAM: Programs Help Vets Move Into Farming Tor Peery grew up in a farming community in upstate New York, baling hay in the summers. He never thought he'd want to go back to that life. Three deployments with the U.S. Marine Corps — including a...
Read MoreBetting jobs on rural-urban food connections The Wallace Center goes to Louisville, KY, where the city’s economic development department employs a full-time relationship broker to build regional business-to-business connections from farm to table. Full Article...
Read MoreGroupGAP: Affordable Certification For Small and Mid-sized farms After three years in pilot stage the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) this week announced that GroupGAP, a new certification option ideal for small and mid-sized farms, will be available nationwide. GAP (short for “good...
Read MoreRELEASE: Food LINC Initiative Connects Farmers with Urban Buyers Yesterday, the US Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission, Delta Regional Authority, and 15 philanthropic partners, announced the creation of the Leveraging Investment for Network Coordination (“Food LINC”) initiative. Read More...
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