A New Grant Program Offers a Fresh Take on Improving Food Access
In partnership with: Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
There’s only one grocery store in Warfield, making it hard for those living in the rural Virginia community to access fresh, locally grown produce. Herbert Brown Jr. wants to change that.
The fourth-generation farmer at Browntown Farms helped the tobacco farm-turned-U-pick strawberry patch develop a loyal following. Now with the help of a $50,000 grant from the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund, Brown plans to create a “barn-to-door” online ordering and delivery service to expand access to fresh food in his community. “
The grant will help us become a food aggregator,” he explains. “We can buy fresh produce from local farms and get it to people who want fresh food. But, being a small farm, we didn’t have the capital, labor or infrastructure to make it happen. The grant gives us growth potential.”
Browntown Farms was one of 15 Virginia businesses and nonprofits to receive funding through the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund.
The program began in 2020 to provide grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to support small business development, construction and expansion aimed at improving food access in underserved communities.
Freezing Assets
Honaker Wholesale LLC is also located in a food desert where residents often drive up to 45 minutes to reach a supermarket. Owner Eric Brown started stocking fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms at the store but lacked a cooler to store sufficient quantities to meet demand. So he purchased a cooler with a $25,000 grant from Virginia Food Access Investment Fund. The additional storage space allows him to purchase larger quantities (and negotiate lower prices).
“There are two dollar stores in town but nowhere that sells fresh fruits and vegetables, so this is a big deal for us,” he says. “It will help us save money and increase access to fresh foods.”
While one goal of the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund is to increase food access in low-income, low-access communities, the state-run program also aims to use food and agriculture to create economic opportunities and healthy neighborhoods in historically marginalized communities.
See more: Virginia Communities Are Taking Food Justice Into Their Own Hands
Future Investments
Karen Bailey, executive director of Youth Earn and Learn, takes those twin goals to heart. With $50,000 in funding from the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund, the Norfolk-based nonprofit is working to establish youth-led mobile markets coupled with entrepreneurship training and business literacy skills.
Operating mobile produce stands that sell fresh produce, grab-and-go salads, healthy snacks and heatand- eat meals has the potential to improve food access in food deserts, address diet-related chronic disease and provide job opportunities to at-risk youth.
Young adults involved in Youth Earn and Learn welcome opportunities to be part of the solution and earn money for their efforts.
“The grant allows us to scale up, go into more food deserts to provide job training and fresh produce,” Bailey says. “It’s workforce development with food desert solutions. These kinds of investments help to turn the tide in our communities.”
See more: Small Farms Make a Big Impact on Virginia Agriculture