HARRISBURG (NewsRadio KDKA) — The Wolf Administration announced Friday the approval of funding for 42 new statewide projects that would go toward helping agricultural and food-related issues.
With the newly procured $500,000, Wolf and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding hope to support those 42 projects in the Pennsylvania Farm Bill's Urban Agriculture Grant Program.
Among the programs, there will be emphases on a myriad of different subindustries: refrigeration equipment, agricultural infrastructure, greenhouses, raised beds, irrigation, and tools.
Many of the projects will be located throughout Allegheny, Berks, Blair, Butler, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Luzerne, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and York counties.
"The pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear: hyper-local food production is key to addressing food insecurity, especially in urban areas of the commonwealth where food apartheids are a sad reality," said Redding. "Access to affordable fresh and nutritious foods is key to building healthy communities, and that was the impetus of this Urban Ag Program.
"These 42 projects are an opportunity to increase agricultural awareness, provide opportunities for hands-on learning and community building, and, of course, a means to increase local food access and stop the cycle that limits economic opportunities and better health," added Redding.
Breaking down the funding, the Urban Agriculture Grant Program disbursed money to 18 microgrants and 24 collaborative grants.
First up, microgrants offer "funding up to $2,500 in matching funds for one-time projects or a single entity."
And second, collaborative grants designate "$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."
The criteria and methodology for determining what fell under Pennsylvania's definition of "urban" can be seen via a municipal profile map on the Rural Pennsylvania website.