Local organic farm wins grant from Future Harvest

Future Harvest, a non-profit organization who advocates organic farming, announced the 22 grant awardees of the Feed the Need campaign, which raised more than $40,000 for the farming community in the Chesapeake region to address food access in our communities.

One of the winners was Natalie McGill of Perennial Roots Farm in Accomac. McGill will use the grant funds to expand her new door-to-door delivery CSA, that supplies 50+ families, expand participation with the local Food Bank and with Manna Cafe, which delivers door-to-door and tries to feed 300+ families a week, and continue donating to the Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Refuge House in Onancock.

The review committee, composed of Future Harvest Board members, staff, and farmers, selected this first round of grant awardees from a pool of 102 applicants with funding requests totaling more than $300,000.

The Feed the Need Fund was created to help farmers weather market changes caused by the pandemic and provide food access in a variety of ways. Thanks to individual donors, funds awarded from the Mid-Atlantic Food Resilience & Access Coalition and the Greater Washington Community Foundation, and region-wide partner support, grantees will receive mini-grants ranging from $500 – $3,000. With these funds, grantees will provide such activities as sliding scales on CSA orders, conduct home deliveries, and donate produce to local food banks and pantries in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.

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