As announced on Wednesday, Aug. 28, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted to distribute funding to 17 Community Food and Farm Grant awardees on July 24.
$350,000 was available for this grant cycle. This year’s recipients for the third annual round of the Community Food and Farm Grant are:
- 5M Emprendimiento Latino, LLC – $25,000
- Baladna Farm – $25,000
- Cachua Cakes LLC – $18,000
- Elida’s Bakery LLC – $20,000
- Farmers’ Toolshed, LLC – $25,000
- Garden Oasis Farm LLC – $25,000
- Iowa Farm Fresh Meats, LLC – $20,000
- Kandakat Sudan LLC – $24,000
- Mazees Food Truck, Dolly Sperry – $20,000
- Nomadic Foods LLC – $13,500
- Rodneys Jamaican Jerk & BBQ LLC – $15,000
- Singing Goat Farms, LLC – $11,500
- Slammin Jammin Wings N Things LLC – $23,000
- Table to Table Food Distribution Network – $10,000
- Trowel & Error Farm LLC – $25,000
- Wild Woods Farm LLC – $25,000
- Yotopia Frozen Yogurt – $25,000
As stated in a release, the Board of Supervisors invested $200,000 of Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in November 2021 to support local food initiatives to increase food security.
Johnson County has previously administered two cycles of the Community Food and Farm Grant. Last year’s cycle saw Johnson County fund 15 of the 40 applications received, totaling around $285,000 in grant awards.
Introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Community Food and Farm Grant aims to address the need for fresh, nutritious food grown by local farms by funding projects that increase community-based food production, processing and distribution capacity in Johnson County.
Applicants could request $1,000-$25,000 to fund costs such as the purchase of equipment and supplies for growing, processing or distributing food, business development opportunities, or the creation of free food distribution sites.
This year’s applications opened on March 15 and closed on April 12. Johnson County received 48 total applications, which were scored and deemed eligible using a rubric developed by Local Foods Staff and the Johnson County Food Policy Council.
Council members and staff used scores to assist with creating a funding recommendation presented to the Board of Supervisors on July 24, as stated in the release. The recommended applicants submitted projects that had a high alignment with the program goals and the potential to have both short-term and long-term impacts on Johnson County.
