Transportation and Marketing

Local Food Promotion Program

Fiscal Year 2022 Description of Funded Projects

Farm to Institution Project Type

Farm to Institution broadly refers to connecting local or regional producers, including farmers and 

ranchers, processors, and intermediaries selling local and regional foods to establishments where 

people routinely eat meals outside of home, such as schools and early childcare centers, colleges and

universities, hospitals, corporate cafeterias, and government agencies and to vendors that sell to these

establishments.

This document identifies FY 22 Farm to Institution Project Type funded projects. This document may not 

be inclusive of all FY22 awarded projects that carried out Farm to Institution activities as part of their 

project. Click on a state abbreviation in the chart below to jump to Farm to Institution projects in the 

respective state.

State Recipient Project Name

CA AG Link Ag Link’s Farm 2 School New Provisions Project - Adding locallymade, clean-label products to school meals by networking school 

food service buyers with producers and providing supply chain 

solutions.

CA Fiery Ginger Farm, LLC. Spork Food Hub: A farmer-owned solution to sustain the livelihood of 

local producers and the health of the Sacramento region’s youth

CA North Coast Growers' 

Association

Implementing a regional food hub to better serve institutions by 

aggregating and distributing locally grown foods, and helping 

local/regional farmers access institutional buyers.

CA Old Grove Orange, Inc. Old Grove Orange Food Hub: Expanding Local Food Systems in the 

Inland Empire

KY God's Pantry Food Bank, 

Inc.

SE KY Health and Education Farm-to-Institution Program

MT Lake County Community 

Development 

Corporation

Farm to Institution- Building the capacity of the NW Food Hub 

Network in development of mid-tier value chains that build regional 

food system processing infrastructure and supply chain resiliency

MT Livingston Food 

Resource Center

Expanding the Local Food System for Park County through the 

Livingston Food Resource Center

NC Farmer Foodshare Farmer Foodshare: Post-Pandemic Food Hub Program Revitalization, 

Diversification, & Expansion Project

NC Working Landscapes Ready to cook, heat, and eat: improving lifelong access to local food

NE Center For Rural Affairs Building Capacity for Indigenous Local Foods with Nebraska Tribes

NH University System of 

New Hampshire

Multiple Pathways to Achieve Farm to Institution Goals in New 

Hampshire
For more information, including a comprehensive list of funded projects, many of which include 

development and expansion of wholesale markets that my serve institutions, please visit the grant 

program's website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/lfpp.

NOTE: The below project descriptions were provided by the grant recipients.

California

Recipient: AG Link, Incorporated, Ballico, CA

District: CA-016

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $500,000.00 

Match Amount: $129,500.00

Total Project Amount: $629,500.00

Ag Link’s Farm 2 School New Provisions Project - Adding locally-made, clean-label products to 

school meals by networking school food service buyers with producers and providing supply chain 

solutions. 

The purpose of this grant is to improve and expand the consumption of and access to locally made, 

clean- label products to school food service agencies and the communities they serve. The goals of this

grant are to network, educate and inform school food service buyers about local products; provide 

supply chain solutions for producers and schools; improve distribution logistic efficiencies and

compliance for Ag Link, a local food aggregator/distributor. This will directly benefit the local producers 

it buys from as well as school food service agencies it sells to and the millions of school children they 

feed daily. The expected outcomes of this project are that domestic consumption of and access to 

locally made products will increase by improving and expanding a local and regional food business that 

functions as an intermediary between producers and buyers as an aggregator and distributor.

Recipient: Fiery Ginger Farm, LLC., West Sacramento, CA

District: CA-006

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $500,000.00 

Match Amount: $125,000.00

Total Project Amount: $625,000.00

State Recipient Project Name

VT Food Connects, Inc. Leveraging Farm To School to Increase Local Purchasing through 

Collaboration and Innovation in the Supply Chain

WV Yuraction Faction, LLC. 

DBA WV Harvest

WV Harvest Farm to Institution Project
Spork Food Hub: A farmer-owned solution to sustain the livelihood of local producers and the 

health of the Sacramento region’s youth 

Fiery Ginger Farm, LLC was established in West Sacramento, CA in 2015. From the beginning, their intent 

has been to grow the highest quality produce for school kitchens. Small farmers recognize firsthand the 

benefits of stable institutional markets. The grant will use the knowledge and relationships that have

been built over the last seven years to continue to open the door for other small farmers to gain access

to institutional markets. The grant will continue to develop market connections and forward contracts 

while also providing logistical support, technical assistance, and training for both farmers and food

service personnel. Over the next three years, Spork Food Hub will work with 15 new school districts that 

serve 70,000 students receiving free and reduced-price school meals. The grant will onboard 30 farms 

(20 of which will be historically underserved). These efforts will lead to $900,000 of produce procured 

from farmers over the next three years. By the end of this project, the grant will generate sufficient 

revenue to hire three new full- time employees who will continue meeting the project outcomes once 

funding expires.

Recipient: North Coast Growers' Association, Arcata, CA

District: CA-002

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $410,722.00 

Match Amount: $102,830.00

Total Project Amount: $513,552.00

Implementing a regional food hub to better serve institutions by aggregating and distributing 

locally grown foods, and helping local/regional farmers access institutional buyers. 

North Coast Growers’ Association (NCGA) will work with local/regional food producers to implement a 

distribution hub that will make it possible for producers to market and distribute their food more 

efficiently and economically while retaining brand and location identity. “Harvest Hub” will increase 

market access for producers, supporting their economic vitality by linking them with institutional buyers 

and other wholesale markets, as well as assessing and addressing producer needs in terms of 

technology, marketing, and infrastructure for storage, packaging, and distribution to facilitate their 

participation in wholesale markets. NCGA will engage Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) to

transition their local food purchasing to the Harvest Hub. New systems for ordering and distribution will 

be developed and piloted so that Harvest Hub will procure local food for Humboldt County school 

districts’ meal purchasing programs. NCGA will work with Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH), a CA State University 

campus, to identify barriers to their local food purchasing goals. Funds from this grant will be used to 

map needs and barriers of CPH, collaboratively create a plan to update policies and standard operating 

procedures to overcome these barriers and begin to source locally grown and raised food to help meet

their local purchasing goals. The Harvest Hub will benefit local farmers and students. Farmers will be 

able to increase their markets without increasing costs or workload. Students will have more access to 

nutrient dense produce throughout the school year to connect them more deeply with their local food 

system.
Recipient: Old Grove Orange, Inc., Redlands, CA

District: CA-031

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $432,873.00 

Match Amount: $108,857.00

Total Project Amount: $541,730.00

Old Grove Orange Food Hub: Expanding Local Food Systems in the Inland Empire 

Old Grove Orange’s Expanding Local Food Systems project aims to increase economic opportunity for

local farmers, including new/beginning and BIPOC farmers, by connecting them to a growing network of 

institutional markets in the Inland Empire, a geographic area inland and adjacent to coastal Southern 

California. As the farmer-pioneer of California’s Farm to School movement, Old Grove Orange (OGO), a 

farmer-led food hub, has over 16 years of experience connecting a roster of 40+ local farmers to a Farm 

to School market of 200,000+ students. This project will allow OGO to upgrade its infrastructure and

enhance the processing, aggregation, distribution, and the development of the value-added agricultural 

products requested for by its institutional clients; to broaden OGO’s customer base by developing new 

institutional markets for local food products; and to recruit, support, and provide more local farmers 

with access to institutional buyers. By investing in these three areas, OGO will be able to support at least 

10 new farmers, increase sales of local agricultural products by 35%, and develop 10 new markets in the

form of K-12 public school districts, university cafeterias, and local restaurants.

Kentucky

Recipient: God's Pantry Food Bank, Inc., Lexington, KY

District: KY-006

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $465,658.56 

Match Amount: $122,414.64

Total Project Amount: $588,073.20

SE KY Health and Education Farm-to-Institution Program 

With team partners Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) and Kentucky Educational Development 

Corporation (KEDC), God’s Pantry Food Bank (GPFB) is coordinating efforts to increase farm to 

institution distribution in southeast Kentucky, anchored by the food warehouse GPFB is developing in

Hazard. GPFB’s planned facility will serve as a satellite distribution facility to improve food supply to 

member pantries in the distressed seven-county area. This facility will also provide supply chain 

infrastructure supporting farm-to-institution initiatives currently underway at ARH and KEDC. Anchoring

efforts to supply more fresh fruits, vegetables, and other foods from local and regional sources, this 

facility will improve nutrition for patients, students, employees, and the community at large. GPFB’s 

food warehouse, with dry and cold storage, will fill an important gap in the regional food system, 

currently served by facilities located up to 230 miles away.
Montana

Recipient: Lake County Community Development Corporation, Ronan, MT

District: MT-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $491,701.55 

Match Amount: $124,693.00

Total Project Amount: $616,394.55

Farm to Institution- Building the capacity of the NW Food Hub Network in development of midtier value chains that build regional food system processing infrastructure and supply chain 

resiliency 

Institutional markets are increasingly seeking out local and responsibly grown food to add to their food 

service menus. The Northwest Food Hub Network (NWFHN), a collaboration between three food hubs in 

Montana and Washington, was created to help respond to these institutional market demands by 

providing one ordering platform in which institutions can access large quantities of local and regional 

products. However, the food processing capacity within the Network is limited, and institutions are 

continuing to ask for value-added food products that are easily integrated into their food operations. 

This project builds on the success of the Northwest Food Hub Network by increasing the processing 

capacity for the NWFHN, identifying and creating value-added food products for the institutional 

marketplace, creating effective marketing materials for the developed products, and providing 

necessary technical assistance and trainings for local and regional food processors. Mission West will

work collaboratively with partners including Kitchen Sync Strategies and Montana State University Food 

Lab to complete these project objectives. This project will lead to increased sales for the NWFHN, which 

will ultimately benefit the 211 small to mid-size family farms that are connected to the Network, and will 

develop best practices for processing and product development that will be shared with interested 

organizations nationwide.

Recipient: Livingston Food Resource Center, Livingston, MT

District: MT-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $300,000.00 

Match Amount: $75,000.00

Total Project Amount: $375,000.00

Expanding the Local Food System for Park County through the Livingston Food Resource Center 

Livingston Food Resource Center (LFRC) project will promote and support Park County, Montana’s local 

food system through expanding access to and availability of locally produced foods for regional 

residents. As a leader in the community, LFRC has the ability to promote and support the local food 

system by increasing aggregation, processing, and distribution of local produce by: 1) expanding LFRC’s 

aggregation of local and regional food products to support local food systems; 2) creating value-added 

agricultural products through the processing of local produce for distribution through the LFRC; 3) 

increasing the distribution of agricultural products and value-added products by increasing the capacity 
of the LFRC’s current programs; 4) utilizing LFRC’s Community Bakery and Community Kitchen to 

connect and strengthen the relationships between local producers and local food entrepreneurs to 

support the inclusion of local food products in institutional settings to create growth in the local retail

food market and economy; 5) and supporting new and established farmers and ranchers to help keep 

produce local.

North Carolina

Recipient: Farmer Foodshare, Durham, NC

District: NC-004

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $499,949.20 

Match Amount: $169,985.960 

Total Project Amount: $669,935.16

Farmer Foodshare: Post-Pandemic Food Hub Program Revitalization, Diversification, & Expansion 

Project 

Farmer Foodshare will grow, diversify, and expand its Food Hub by executing a post-pandemic 

revitalization project aimed at the development, coordination, and expansion of local and regional food 

business enterprises to increase access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural 

products in the rapidly growing and agriculturally productive “Research Triangle” region of North 

Carolina. Project activities include: a marketing and outreach campaign; optimizing internal operations; 

identifying and adopting new software; food safety technical assistance to producers; intentional 

relationship-building with our farmers; broad partnerships with area food system service providers and 

institutional buyers; and extensive data collection, evaluation and dissemination. 75 farm businesses will 

benefit, with an estimated $2.7 M returned to them in sales. 75 institutional buyers will benefit through 

$3.9 M in local food procurement to serve their clients and customers. Clients and customers will 

benefit through increased accessto locally and regionally grown food products. Additionally, these 

activities will set Farmer Foodshare up to be sustainable in the long run, continuing to support 

stakeholders for years to come.

Recipient: Working Landscapes, Warrenton, NC

District: NC-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $499,951.00 

Match Amount: $125,797.00 

Total Project Amount: $625,748

Ready to cook, heat, and eat: improving lifelong access to local food 

This project represents an unprecedented collaboration between five mission-driven food processors, 

seven food hubs, and 75 farmers and fishermen. Together, these partners will supply 41 North Carolina 

institutions with a wider array of value-added, locally- sourced foods than they have previously been 

able to purchase. Each of the 24 products developed and marketed, including fresh-cut produce; pasture-
raised chicken, pork, and beef; seafood; and heat-and-serve meals, will be designed for ease of use in 

institutional kitchens. A subaward will support the development and production of shelf-stable fruit 

jerky, a wholesome, locally-sourced alternative to the unhealthy snacks offered through after-school 

programs, summer meals, and other institutional programs.

Nebraska

Recipient: Center For Rural Affairs, Lyons, NE

District: NE-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $198,469.00 

Match Amount: $49,576.00

Total Project Amount: $248,045.00

Building Capacity for Indigenous Local Foods with Nebraska Tribes 

The goal of “Building Capacity for Indigenous Local Foods with Nebraska Tribes” is to support farm-toinstitution sourcing in the Omaha and Santee Sioux communities as part of sovereign, healthy food 

systems. This project will: increase capacity of local growers to sell direct to institutions; increase

business skills for farmers through small business coaching, food safety education, and value-added 

production; and support sustainable sourcing connections within Nebraska Tribes. The outcomes of this 

project will include training 300 growers to increase their capacity for local direct sales. Of these, the 

project will result in 250 growers engaging in direct sales to 50 institutions, reaching 2,500 people with

fresh, healthy, local food. In addition, the project will connect four Nebraska Tribes to create an 

Intertribal Food Council to examine issues, define solutions, and improve the food system.

New Hampshire

Recipient: University System of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

District: NH-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $351,053.00 

Match Amount: $88,735.00

Total Project Amount: $439,788.00

Multiple Pathways to Achieve Farm to Institution Goals in New Hampshire 

To increase farm sales to institutions, a variety of approaches will create opportunities and programs for 

farms, food hubs and institutions to more easily develop buying/selling relationships. The project 

leverages opportunities like the new NH Food Hub Network, the Seacoast School Buying Group and 

interest in value added product development by two New Hampshire businesses. The NH Food Hub 

Network coordinator will assist in coordinating farm to institution sales. This project will also build on

the established NH Harvest of the Month (HoM) program by increasing the variety of monthly offerings 

making it easier for more farms and institutions to adopt the program, developing appropriate 

educational and marketing materials for all types of institutions and making the program relevant to the 

refugee and immigrant populations. Expected outcomes include an increase in availability of local food 
products on institutional menus through expansion of HoM and school buying group bids, develop, 

market, and distribute locally produced value added products for the institutional market and increase 

demand for locally produced foods by institutions working towards state and regional targets for 

institutional purchasing and farm production.

Vermont

Recipient: Food Connects, Inc., Brattleboro, VT

District: VT-001 (At-Large Congressional district of Vermont)

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $286,280.00 

Match Amount: $93,741.00

Total Project Amount: $380,021.00

Leveraging Farm To School to Increase Local Purchasing through Collaboration and Innovation in 

the Supply Chain 

The overall goal of the project is to innovate in the supply chain to increase institutional, local food 

purchasing in Food Connects’ tri-state central New England service area. Project activities include: 1) 

creating and printing marketing materials customized and co-branded to our customers' specifications, 

with the goal to more deeply support customers in their efforts to tell their local food sourcing story; 2) 

developing a product catalog (print and digital) to improve conversion rate with prospective institutional 

customers, especially major institutions; 3) distribution of Annual Harvest of the Month calendars, 

posters, and other educational materials; 4) collaboration with regional partners to support states in 

developing and improving local purchasing incentive programs for K-12 schools; and 4) execution of a 

comprehensive sales push across the current service area to onboard institutional accounts whose food 

safety requirements Food Connects will be prepared to meet as of Fall 2022. Food Connects will also 

onboard and serve new institutional customers on new, to-be-launched delivery routes to underserved 

areas across Southeastern VT, Central, and Eastern MA.

West Virginia

Recipient: Yuraction Faction, LLC. DBA WV Harvest, Morgantown, WV

District: WV-001

Project Type: Farm to Institution 

Award Amount: $482,215.00 

Match Amount: $120,533.80

Total Project Amount: $602,748.80

WV Harvest Farm to Institution Project 

The WV Harvest Farm to Institution application will connect producers and growers with state 

institutions through collaborative partnerships that result in stronger local food system in West Virginia. 

WV Harvest will engage with the current growers, producers, and processors to begin the strategic 

aggregation of locally grown/raised/produced food products under the WV Harvest Brand. This includes 

creating an institution focused coordinated food chain and mid-tier value chain, purchasing locally 
grown/raised/ processed products, and aggregating/storing locally grown/produced products in a 

central location. In addition, WV Harvest will expand on current work by informing the nutrition 

directors in K-12 and purchasing managers at WV State Institutions about the large selection of fresh 

and value-added food products available for purchase. This includes developing strategies and action 

tools for key decision makers of state institutions to become more informed of locally available products 

through WV Harvest. WV Harvest will market the opportunities for job creation and community growth 

associated with purchasing locally raised/grow/produced food productsto students and administrators

to elevate the local food system in WV. This includes informational displays and marketing installations 

in schools and institutions of higher education.