Root awarded a $500,000 Grant for Food Insecurity Work!

Produce from Fat Moon Farms and New Entry Sustainable Farming Project headed to Root’s kitchen.

TOGETHER WE ARE FEEDING OPPORTUNITY AND COMMUNITY!

Root is thrilled to be one of the 16 state-wide recipients of the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Program supported by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). The Baker-Polito administration announced the $7,260,000 Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Program grants to 16 organizations across the Commonwealth in December. The grants seek to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency through the purchase of domestic food from local and regional producers, by targeting purchases from socially disadvantaged farmers and producers, and the distribution to underserved communities.

This transformational $500,000 grant will run through May 2024 and will serve as a catalyst for Root’s growing Community Catering initiative, allowing us to expand our work addressing food insecurity using healthy, fresh, local food - produce, dairy, proteins, and grains; to increase the number of employment hours and work experience for our alumni employees; and to grow our network of local farm and distribution partners. The 18-month commitment lets us plan and prepare to do this work in a better, more efficient way and how to sustain it beyond the life cycle of the grant.

We are deeply grateful to our many partners across the North Shore who wrote letters of support for our proposal: Congressman Seth Moulton, Lt. Governor (and former Mayor of Salem) Kim Driscoll, Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson, The Essex County Community Foundation, North Shore CDC, Lifebridge North Shore, My Brothers Table, The Haven Project, New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, and Three Sisters Garden Project. We are proud to continue to work together to better address food insecurity across Essex County and deepen our support for local farmers.

We are grateful to the USDA and MDAR for this innovative program, and we are excited to expand our network of local farmers and food distribution partners in the coming months. Stay tuned to learn more!