Wisconsin Awards $248K in Buy Local Food Grants

By Blake Jackson

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has awarded nearly $248,840 in Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin (BLBW) Grants to 11 state companies in 2024.

These competitive grants aim to bolster Wisconsin's agriculture and food sectors by enabling farms and businesses to enhance their processing, marketing, and distribution of locally sourced food products.

The BLBW program ultimately increases consumer access to a wider variety of Wisconsin-grown items, including organic vegetables, hops, hazelnuts, local grains, and other value-added goods.

"Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grants help diverse sectors of Wisconsin food producers sell their products to local distributors, which in turn helps Wisconsin communities get access to more local foods," said DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski. "We are pleased to help support the innovative projects funded in this round."

This year, DATCP received 24 applications requesting over $761,000. The 11 grant recipients, receiving a total of $248,840, will undertake diverse projects.

These include B&E’s Trees, LLC (Embark) exploring Wisconsin maple energy sales, Driftless Farms expanding local maple products, Fondy Food Center supporting Milwaukee’s Hmong urban farming economy.

GreenGold Gardens enhancing fresh produce distribution, Hundred Acre scaling up pesto production, Laxey Creek Sheep Ranch increasing local lamb availability, May Hill Farm expanding regenerative farm marketing.

Misty Dawn Farm developing an agroforestry food forest, Ney’s Premium improving product sealing and freezing, Philadelphia Community Farm expanding direct-to-consumer sales for emerging farmers, and Vitruvian Farms broadening promotion and distribution of locally aggregated food.

Since its inception in 2008, the BLBW program has received over 600 applications requesting more than $21 million. To date, 128 projects have been funded, totaling over $3.2 million.

These initiatives have generated over $14.7 million in new local food sales, created and retained 544 jobs, and benefited more than 5,600 producers and 5,500 markets.

Photo Credit: wisconsin-doa