Grants totaling $236,804 have been awarded to 22 Montgomery County-based food producing farms to improve their infrastructure and expand their capacity to contribute local food to the Montgomery County “Farm to Food Bank” program in 2021. Grant awards are funded by the Montgomery County Government, Manna Food Center and Food for Montgomery, a fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
The 22 farms awarded funding through the program are Alden Farms, Amaranth Acres, Beauty Blooms, LLC., Bella Vita Farm, Bethel World Outreach Organic Farm, Butler's Orchard, Button Farm, Cedar Ridge Community Church Farm, Chicken of the Woods Farm, Dodo Farm, Eat the Rainbow Farm, Lewis Orchards, Love and Grit, LLC., Koiner Farm, One Acre Farm, Passion to Seed Gardening, Purple Mountain Organics, Red Wiggler Community Farm, Sandy Spring Gardens, Savage Acres Farm, Inc., Tanglewood Farm and The Farm at Our House.
A panel of 11 local food security and agriculture experts reviewed applications to determine grant awards. Grant applications were reviewed on criteria that included the long-term viability of the project, the ability of the farm to increase the quantities of culturally appropriate food being provided to local food assistance organizations and the promotion of sustainable farming practices.
The County’s Farm to Food Bank Program is part of the Food for Montgomery public-private partnership between the Montgomery County Food Security Task Force, the Montgomery County Food Council, the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture, Manna Food Center and the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
More information on the Farm to Food Bank Program is available on the Food Council's website. To learn more about the effort to raise private dollars to support the grants and additional efforts in Montgomery County’s broader COVID-19 food security response, visit the Food for Montgomery website.
