![]() Applications for grant funding for a farm market outreach program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are expected to increase before an application deadline date of May 2. The Farmers Market Promotion Program is designed expand producer-to-consumer markets for American farmers through outreach efforts, training, and technical assistance. Upwards of $15.4 million in grant funding is being made available this year, with applicants required to request grants of no less than $50,000 and no more than $250,000. Launched in 2002 as part of that year’s Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, the Farmers Market Promotion Program was created in order to “establish, expand, and promote direct producer-to-consumer marketing and assist in the development of local food business enterprises.” The program is competitive: according to USDA statistics, exactly 320 applicants for funding were received in 2019. Of that total, the program funded 49. Eligible applicants include agricultural cooperatives, producer networks and associations, regional farmers markets authorities, and tribal governments, among other entities. Last year 55 grants were awarded through the program. Recipients included the City of Winslow in Arizona, which received just over $198,000 for a roadside farmers market, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, recipient of a $231,288 grant for technical assistance with a producer-to-consumer program. The Denver-based Initium Health secured a grant of $229,100 for an effort designed to expand capacity and secure new markets for Colorado farms, while the City of El Paso received a grant in the amount of $99,000 for the establishment of a farmers market on the growing northeast side of the city. By Garry Boulard
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