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MDARD Announces Projects Awarded Value Added Regional Food System Grants

Agency: Agriculture and Rural Development

For Immediate Release: April 21, 2014 Media Contact: Heather Throne, 517-284-5725 or throneh@michigan.gov Grant Contact: Nancy Nyquist, 517-284-5735 or nyquistn@michigan.gov

LANSING, Mich. - Today, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Director Jamie Clover Adams announced the projects awarded funds under the competitive Value Added and Regional Food System Grant Program. 

"The awarded proposals reflect the diversity of Michigan's $96 billion food and agriculture industry," said Clover Adams. "These projects illustrate the critical role the food and agriculture sector plays in our state's economic reinvention."

The department received a total of 53 proposals with requests totaling $3.4 million.  Of those, MDARD awarded the following projects:

• Allen Neighborhood Center, of Lansing; Providing Training, Mentoring, and Marketing Opportunities to Mid-Michigan Growers - $72,856
• The Starting Block, Kitchen Incubators, Oceana County Grow Benzie, and Benzie County, of Hart; West Michigan Kitchen Incubator and Farm Stand Collaborative to Expand Value Added Agriculture and Dairy Processing via Equipment, Outreach, and Training - $75,000
• Valicor, of Dexter; Value Added Processing of Distillers Corn Oil - $74,360
• Albion Economic Development Corporation, of Albion, Expanding the Albion Community Food Center - $75,000
• Uptown Reinvestment Corporation, of Flint; Creating Sustainable Business Opportunities and for Residents and Farmers in the Flint and Genesee County Region - $75,000
• Growing U.P. Agricultural Association, of Chatham; Upper Peninsula Community Food Systems Teaching Farm - $27,347
• Michigan Cherry Committee, of Dewitt; Enhancing Knowledge of Michigan Tart Cherries - $47,262
• Farmers' Egg Co-operative "Grazing Fields", of Charlotte; Increasing Regional Farm Production and Expanding Commercial Markets - $75,000
• Michigan State University Department of Bio-Systems Agriculture Engineering, of East Lansing; Feasibility of Using Sugar Beet Pulp to Produce Chitosan as a High-Value Bioactive Agent for Food and Agriculture Applications - $67,976
• Love Meats, of Rudyard; Love Meats USDA Certification - $75,000
• Coveyou Farms, LLC, of Petoskey; Using "Green" Technology to Grow Greens Organically Geothermal Heat Pump Technology for Winter Lettuce Production - $53,500
• Big Head Farm, Inc., of Benton Harbor; Midwest Organic Berry Processing Facility - $75,000
• Eastern Market Corporation, of Detroit; Eastern Market Producers' Cooperative - $75,000

MDARD promotes and manages several competitive grant programs through the Office of Agriculture Development. More about these programs can be found at www.michigan.gov/mdard.

 

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