MDARD Awards Over $3.1 Million Through Resilient Food System Infrastructure Program

Projects build resilience across the middle of the supply chain

Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced more than $3.1 million of grants to 34 Michigan entities through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI).

"MDARD has been working hard to build more resilient food supply chains across Michigan through our innovative Farm to Family Program," said MDARD Director Tim Boring. "The RFSI program builds on our success at the state level by making further targeted investments in local food processing, aggregation and distribution which means more avenues for farmers to sell in their communities and more opportunities for Michigan families to purchase nutritious, locally grown foods.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has championed the Farm to Family Program, which continues to receive bipartisan support to invest in regional food systems to ensure producers and growers can feed their communities while improving Michiganders' access to healthy, locally grown food. Already this year, the Farm to Family Program has awarded $730,000 to Michigan food hubs and farm stops.

Today's RFSI grants further invest in Michigan food hubs, farm stops, fruit and vegetable farmers, regenerative agriculture practitioners, fish hatcheries, food processors and more:

Mid-Michigan

• A Couple Green Acres, LLC (Jackson) - $41,961.49 for the expansion of local honey processing and storage infrastructure.
• Agape Organic Farm (Dansville) - $99,222.96 for mushroom processing, storage and transport for increased market access.
• Certain League Farms Foundation (Williamston) - $45,460.50 for processing equipment to support the foundation s agricultural projects with the Capital Area Downs Syndrome Association and other underserved populations.
• The Kilted Farmers, LLC (Concord) - $68,152 for enhancing pasta production with advanced equipment to boost local economic growth and food security.
• Titus Farms, LLC (Leslie) - $111,562.50 for a multi-farm packing shed and aggregation hub.

Northern Michigan

• Bear Creek Organics, LLC (Petoskey) - $72,290 for the expansion of cold storage for organic produce.
• Cedarbrook Trout Farm (Harrisville) - $99,378.65 for a communal kitchen, cold storage and distribution center.
• Coveyou Scenic Farm (Petoskey) - $98,604.40 for refrigerated delivery expansion.
• Cultured Ferments Company, LLC (Traverse City) - $93,525 for scaling up healthy and specialty food and beverage production.
• Lakeview Hill Organic Farm, LLC (Traverse City) - $100,000 for processing local farmers produce into value added products.
• Pine Ridge Farm (Kalkaska)- $15,283 for expanding maple syrup production.
• Torch Lake Cooperative (Bellaire) - $100,000 for efficient aggregation and distribution equipment for members/patrons of a farmer-owned cooperative.

Southeast Michigan

• Beto Capital, Inc. (Redford) - $97,900 for boosting chikwangue production and market reach in the eastern United States.
• Blue Water Copacking (Port Huron) - $91,915 for expanding the bottling capacity for Michigan-made beverages.
• Peach and Honey, LLC (Wixom) - $94,932.28 for the acquisition of essential equipment for Peach and Honey s new baking facility.
• Potion Acres, LLC (Detroit) - $66,827.60 for enhanced storage and market expansion.
• Shining Sea Fish Company (Royal Oak) - $53,143 for processing upgrades and expansion for raw and value-added Kosher seafood.
• The Alden Group (Farmington Hills) - $99,446.60 for increasing capacity of value-added processing, packing, storage and distribution of food grade oil.
• The Marks Trading Company, LLC (Adrian) - $41,504.92 for expanding access to local produce within the community.
• Trinity Health Oakland Hospital (Pontiac) - $66,056 for a cooler to expand the Farm Share Assistance Program, which helps community members access high-quality, locally grown produce.

Southwest Michigan

• Berry Delicious Farms, Inc. (Covert) - $100,000 to expand transportation capacity for the delivery of blueberries and other fresh produce to market.
• DeGrandchamp Blueberry Farms, Inc. (South Haven) - $100,000 for processing line and distribution expansion.
• Kalamazoo Valley Community College - $95,565 for equipment for scale-appropriate, fresh-cut processing for the ValleyHUB urban farm, food hub and education center.
• Mitchell's Patch of Blue, LLC (Bangor) - $93,720 for a cutting-edge processing line with advanced technology for cleaning, sorting, grading and packaging blueberries.
• The Bainbridge Beverage Co. (Coloma) - $100,000 for enhancing processing opportunities for local growers providing value added heat pasteurization.

Thumb Region

• Douglas Tree Farm (Lapeer) - $96,900 for implementing forced air cooling to improve quality and increase the profitability of the blueberry harvest.
• Kevin Messing (Ubly) - $66,109 for enhanced edible bean and grain processing for small farms at Sheridan Acres.

Upper Peninsula

• Ore Dock Brewing Company (Marquette) - $100,000 to improve carbon dioxide and nitrogen (N2) generation for the carbonation of craft beer.

West Michigan

• Cellar Door Preserves (Grand Rapids) - $85,957.14 for the modernization of jam production equipment.
• Community Foundation for Muskegon - $473,580 for fortifying infrastructure for Muskegon County food, agriculture, research and manufacturing resiliency.
• Daddy's Dough Cookies (Walker) - $99,580 for enhancing production and market reach.
• Green Wagon Farm (Ada) - $85,900 for a delivery vehicle to expand capacity for distribution to new wholesale markets.
• Swanson Pickle Company (Ravenna) - $102,917.30 for a sustainable wastewater system for resilient pickle processing.
• Tuinstra Greenhouse (Shelbyville) - $18,875.90 for herb distribution expansion equipment.

The USDA's RFSI program has made roughly $400 million of funding available to state agriculture agencies to build resiliency in the middle of the foods supply chain. MDARD awards RFSI funding through a competitive review process to support the creation of more and better processing options for local and regional producers in the specialty crop, dairy, grain and other sectors.

For more information on RFSI, visit the USDA's Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure webpage.

###