Local Farmer Awards program reaches million dollar milestoneDate: 7/5/2022 WESTERN MASS. – Through its Local Farmer Awards, area food producers have received $1 million in support from Big Y Supermarkets and the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation (HGCF). The $2,500 awards, meant to address infrastructure needs, make a big difference for local farmers producing food, who also have to ready it for the marketplace.
“We got a grant that will help us pay for a salad spinner, that dries off loose greens,” said Alice Colman of Stony Hill Farm in Wilbraham. Washing the vegetables is a time-consuming step in processing, but Colman said the Local Farmer Award “will allow us to process more greens, of a higher quality.”
The awards, launched in 2015 by HGCF and Big Y Supermarkets, this year funded growing, harvesting and processing work on 74 farms in the four westernmost counties in Massachusetts. Harold Grinspoon, a successful real estate investor, established his foundation in 1991. HGCF also funds initiatives to support college entrepreneurs, excellence in teaching, and home energy conservation.
In total, 470 Local Farmer Awards have been given to reach the $1 million milestone. The awards funded a wide variety of projects. Dave’s Natural Garden in Granby will use this year’s award to transition to organic production. The Skalbite Family Farms in Monson needed fencing to enable rotational grazing, which keeps pasturelands healthy. The D.A. Smairowski Farms in Sunderland and Montague received assistance with an asparagus packaging line. Other farms will use the award for cheese mixing equipment, brooder hen boxes, a chisel plow for no-till planting, egg washers, barn lighting, grain bins, cattle enclosures and many other production supports.
Funders this year also included Ann and Steve Davis, Charles and Elizabeth D’Amour, PeoplesBank, DeNucci Group at Merrill Lynch, Farm Credit East, HP Hood LLC, Audrey and Chick Taylor, Baystate Health, Country Bank and others. Cari Carpenter, director of the awards program, said 11donors contributed to this year’s grants. All are repeat donors, a sign of HGCF’s efforts to build coalitions of funders, a community of support for the local farming community.
“One of the hallmarks of all of [Harold Grinspoon’s] philanthropy is finding funding partners,” Carpenter said. “He doesn’t do something on his own, he wants to find others and build a community, for the community. Big Y immediately joined us. Big Y has always supported local farms and they felt this would have direct impact and be a great partnership.”
The folks at Country Bank also saw the Local Farmer Awards as a way to support an essential element of valley life. Jodie Gerulaitis, vice president of community relations at the Ware-based bank, said her bankers are passionate about supporting farmers.
“Sometimes you go to the grocery store, and you grab your items and head to the checkout, and you don’t really see the labor of love that goes into what these farmers endure every day,” Gerulaitis said. “I love to support our local farmers markets and local farms, because they are truly the heroes of our communities.”
HGCF also promotes networking among local farmers by hosting a big party. In March, applicants from any year, those who won and those who didn’t, gather to share goodies. Each farmer is given cash for $50 worth of their own products they bring, which are then mixed up with products from other farms, and the farmers and donors get to take home the swap bags full of foods. The farmers also tell 90-second stories, funny and otherwise, and may win $200 for a good tale.
Donors to the program give in increments of $2,500 to fund one or more projects. Every donated dollar goes to a farm, Carpenter said, because HGCF covers all the overhead for the awards.
“Funders see this as a very direct way to have an immediate impact on local farms,” Carpenter said. “In addition to all the other challenges we have right now, the increased prices and supply chain issues, they have this weather unpredictability. As challenging as the profession is, these farmers are deeply committed to feeding our community and caring for the land.”
Applications for the Local Farmer Awards are due each year in January.
Applicant farmers and those interested in donating will find information on HGCF’s website at hgf.org.
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