Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Business Fund Strengthens Supply Chains
In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) established the Coronavirus Agricultural and Forestry Business Fund (CAFB) with CARES Act resources to help ensure the stability of the food supply chain and agribusiness economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CAFB funds provided financial assistance to agricultural, food, forestry and nonprofit agricultural entities. Priority areas included meat processors, forestry businesses, milk processors and agricultural fairs, such as the Dyer County Fair, which received funds to cover revenue loss from the 2020 fair’s cancellation and to upgrade safety processes.
Nash Family Creamery
Nash Family Creamery traces its roots to Cody Nash’s great-grandparents in central California. Falling prices and continued drought in California, however, forced hard decisions at the award-winning dairy. In 2014, the entire operation – cows, equipment, employees and the Nash family – moved to Tennessee, where Cody discovered “this is a really great place to do business.”
Faced again with obstacles out of its control in 2020, Nash Family Creamery used its $250,000 CAFB grant to build and equip a cheese-processing plant on its property near Chapel Hill. “We’ll use milk from our dairy to make our own product line,” Nash says. “We’ll start with some craft cheddars, Gouda and cheese curds.”
Milk from the dairy’s 1,100 cows is sold and used to make premium ice cream available for purchase by the scoop or half gallon at Nash Family Creamery. They also offer gourmet sandwiches, a bakery and locally grown produce and other Pick Tennessee Products. In addition, they sell chocolate milk produced by the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Creamery.
Nash says MTSU students might intern at the new cheese-processing facility.
He adds: “We’re grateful for this grant to make another truly Tennessee product with Tennessee employees.”
Second Harvest Food Bank
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee serves 46 counties through hundreds of nonprofit partner agencies. “Many of these partners needed more food to meet the increased number of people in need,” says Nancy Keil, president and CEO. Second Harvest actively seeks fresh fruits and vegetables and dairy products for distribution along with shelf-stable food.
The bulk of their $211,508 grant was used to procure 42 reach-in refrigerators and freezers for partner agencies in 23 rural counties that didn’t have the capacity to store perishable foods. “That’s a game changer for them,” Keil says. Some of the funds were also used to purchase locally grown green beans and sweet potatoes for distribution.
See more: Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program Helps Farmers Reach New Heights
Keil says the pandemic’s impact on Second Harvest’s service area has been “staggering.” From March 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, they provided 31 million meals, a 40% increase from the previous year.
“There are families and children in our service area who just don’t know where they are going to get their next meal,” she says. “This equipment and this additional fresh produce are making a significant impact in our rural communities that need our help desperately.”
Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Alliance
For the Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Alliance (TFWA), wine festivals are much more than an enjoyable afternoon sipping and chatting with friends and family. The TFWA lost the largest portion of its revenue stream when the pandemic put wine festivals on hold.
Without revenue from the festivals, the TFWA was unable to market Tennessee wines or communicate with members, legislators and other important constituents in their normal ways, according to Rhonda Moody, TFWA president. The TFWA represents growers and producers like Moody, who owns Highland Manor Winery in Jamestown.
With wineries closed or severely limited, marketing throughout the pandemic has been critical. The CAFB grant of $50,000 helped the TFWA assist its 81 members in staying afloat, using some of the money for marketing efforts. “Without these funds, we wouldn’t have the means to proactively reach out to our members and ask, ‘What can we do to help you?’” Moody says. “That was our goal through this whole thing. Because when we are all surviving by helping each other, the whole industry succeeds.”