Capacity Building Grant Program Awards Funds to 22 Montgomery County Farms

$236,804 awarded to 22 local farms through the Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank Capacity Building Grant Program.

$236,804 in grants has 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:

A panel of 11 local food security and agriculture experts reviewed the applications to determine grant awards. Grant applications were reviewed on criteria that included the longterm 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 Montgomery County 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 these grants and additional efforts in Montgomery County’s broader COVID-19 food security response, visit the Food for Montgomery website.

For the latest COVID-19 updates, visit the County’s COVID-19 website and follow Montgomery County on Facebook @MontgomeryCountyInfo and Twitter @MontgomeryCoMD.

Upcoming Events

Apr 25

Equitable Land Access Working Group Meeting

Join us on Thursday, April 25th, 11am-12pm, for a meeting of the Equitable Land Access Working Group. We will be discussing the potential of farm incubator and community programming in the County, where beginning farmers are given the land, tools, and support they need to flourish. Additionally, we will learn about farmland preservation efforts in the County, and learn about USDA's recent initiatives and opportunities to promote local and regional food systems. We plan to have a lively discussion to learn more, and to connect to and fuel the momentum of these exciting efforts.

Learn more

Apr 27

Montgomery County Green Fest

Learn more

Apr 30

Local Food Procurement Working Group

Join our local food procurement working group on April 30th at 11am-12:30pm. During this meeting we will hear from local retailers, Troy Sexton, Category Manager at Common Market and Mike Leveille, Fresh Category Manager at Common Market as they share industry insider knowledge on what retailers are looking for in a product when stocking shelves. You do not want to miss this! We will also go over sell sheet examples and share a template for local businesses to make their own. We hope to see you there!

Learn more