Cooperative Agreement AIDOAAF1600055

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded Universal Schedule & Booking LLC $125,000 under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) from September 30, 2022 to March 31, 2024. The award will support the recipient's planning of a fulfillment platform and technology solution to efficiently market and sell products from local small and mid-size farms directly to consumers. The recipient will research business models leveraging proprietary technology,...

The Community Alliance With Family Farmers (CAFF) will provide cooperative aggregation and sales coordination services to small and socially disadvantaged farmers in Central California through a $723,740 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service. Under the grant, CAFF will activate multilingual partnerships to help farmers collectively aggregate and sell produce to diverse buyers through a farmer-led aggregation model. Technical assistance,...

The Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association will receive $494,960 under a Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service through the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. The Cooperative will use the funding to maximize wholesale produce sales for socially disadvantaged and small farmers in South Carolina through its packaging and processing facility. Specifically, the grant will support operational investments and financial modeling to...

Universal Schedule & Booking LLC, a minority-owned small business, received a $650,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop a digital platform and data analytics to help small and mid-sized farms market products directly to consumers. The grant funding will be used to build e-commerce features and agritourism experiences into a mobile application, enabling farms to sell products online and facilitate...

The Agricultural Institute of Marin was awarded $844,515.25 under a Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service's Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) to strengthen regional mobile farmers market (MFM) service in Northern California from September 2021 through September 2024. Specifically, AIM will leverage its experience operating MFMs in the Bay Area along with sub-awardee Fresh Approach to expand MFM areas served across Northern...

Project Grows, Inc. received a $445,500 Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) to expand direct-to-consumer markets in the Central Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The project aims to increase market access for small, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers as well as traditionally underserved and low-income communities through initiatives such as launching a...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded L & M Companies Inc. dba L & M West a $536,554 Project Grant under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) on September 30, 2021. The grant will support the creation of a mobile processing unit to convert cabbage grown by local farmers in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida into value-added products for distribution within a 50-mile radius. Specifically, the mobile unit will produce cabbage...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) provides $649,935 to Rooted Farmers, Inc., a self-certified small disadvantaged, woman-owned business, to further develop and test its online platform that provides market access and operational support for small and mid-sized farms. The Rooted Farmers platform...

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service awarded a $1,004,250 Project Grant to Multiplier under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. The grant will support Multiplier's efforts to increase sales of regionally produced sustainable and regenerative agricultural products from Northern California to wholesale buyers. Multiplier intends to benefit an estimated 270 small and midsize farms and ranches as well as values-aligned food hubs by facilitating connections...

This $124,568.75 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (CFDA 10.175) will fund a feasibility study to evaluate an innovative mobile processing concept for fresh produce in Georgia. The project aims to address significant food waste challenges faced by Georgia's produce farmers, who often have limited seasonal market windows and face rejections of imperfect fresh produce. The study...