HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture approved $500,000 in funding to support 42 projects through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill’s Urban Agriculture Grant Program.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced the program awards May 7.
The Urban Agriculture Grant Program funded 18 microgrants and 24 collaboration grants for projects that improve agriculture infrastructure in urban areas, the aggregation of product, sharing of resources, and support for community development efforts. Microgrants provide funding up to $2,500 in matching funds for one-time projects or a single entity. Collaboration grants provide up to $50,000 in matching funds for projects that demonstrated cooperative or regional efforts to share resources, aggregate agricultural products or producers, promote the sharing of resources among agricultural entities, and support community development.
Counties with funded projects include Allegheny, Berks, Blair, Butler, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Luzerne, Montgomery, Philadelphia and York. Eligibility to be considered as “urban” was determined by criteria from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
Grants awarded in western Pennsylvania include:
Allegheny County
– Project Love Coalition, $2,500, irrigation system
– Tree Pittsburgh, $2,500, high tunnel
– The Open Door/Garfield Community Farm, $2,500, shed and cold storage
– Lawrenceville United, $2,230, grid soil test and compost materials
– Community Kitchen of Pittsburgh, $2,500, raised beds
– Freeman Family Farm & Greenhouse, $1,300, water pump and cistern
– Grow Pittsburgh, $32,000, equipment, raised beds, irrigation systems, greenhouse, tools, shed, compost system and shade canopies
– Farm to Table Buy Local, $30,000, hoop house, refrigeration, shade pavillion, raised beds, solar power source, washing stations
– Sleeping Octopus, $20,000, grow bed construction and water capture installation
– Hilltop Urban Farm, $15,000, hoop house and planting tables involveMINT/New Sun Rising, $13,000, raised beds, shed, charging station, water tap, greenhouse
– Borough of Etna, $21,323, aquaponics system
Butler County
– Community Partnership, $2,500, hoop house and greenhouse
Erie County
– Wild Field Urban Farm, $2,497, refrigeration
– Green Thumb Organics, $2,500, water line
– SSJ Neighborhood Network, $10,000, growing supplies and materials
Fayette County
– Donald Paul Kremer Jr., $2,500, cold storage.
