IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted to distribute funding to nine Community Food and Farm Grant awardees Wednesday, March 8.
Williams Topsoil, located in rural Solon, is being awarded $15,000 to purchase supplies, equipment, and infrastructure to increase their capacity to raise and sell chickens, and increase the amount of meat produced locally. In 2021 long-time Sundog Farm crew member Carlos Williams started raising and marketing meat chickens on the farm. In 2022 he expanded the enterprise into his own business – Williams’ Topsoil and provides chicken to members of Local Harvest CSA.
In November 2021 the Board of Supervisors invested $200k of Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support local food initiatives to increase food security.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated a need to increase access to fresh, nutritious food and to support the small farms and food businesses who feed the community (and faced significant disruptions from the pandemic). The Community Food and Farm Grant aims to address these needs by funding projects that increase community-based food production, processing, and distribution capacity to increase food security in Johnson County. The grant was made available to small farm and food businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals who produce, process, or distribute community-based food for consumption in Johnson County, or enable these activities.
Applicants could request $1,000-$25,000 to fund costs such as purchasing equipment and supplies for growing, processing, or distributing food, business development opportunities, or creation of free food distribution sites. 126 applications were received and scored using a rubric developed by Local Foods staff and the Johnson County Food Policy Council.
Award recipients for the inaugural ($100,000) Community Food and Farm Grant Cycle include:
• Center for Worker Justice $5,000
• Echollective Farm $15,000
• El Azul $10,000
• IC Compassion $15,000
• Nam and Anna’s Garden $8,500
• Over the Moon Farm and Flowers $14,000
• Poimen Bosko Foods $15,000
• Simon Bwayo $2,500
• Williams Topsoil $15.000
More information about the projects awarded funding is available at www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/localfoods/grant