Agriculture Department funds $300,000 in projects to boost sales of PA-grown agricultural products

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding today announced $300,000 in state matching funds awarded to 16 projects aimed at increasing consumer awareness of Pennsylvania agricultural products and market opportunities for farmers. agricultural producers.

“With so many appealing products made in Pennsylvania, consumers don’t have to look far to find fresh, healthy choices close to home,” Redding said. “When they know the options, consumers are more likely to choose local products. Promoting the story behind the food is a compelling way to attract consumers to Pennsylvania products. Once they’ve made that first purchase, it’s natural for them to become loyal customers. »

The Pennsylvania Agricultural Promotion, Education, and Export Promotion Matching Grant is a program under the 2020-21 state budget. The Bureau of Market Development offers this grant to encourage and maximize the promotion of agricultural products produced in Pennsylvania.

Nonprofits based in 11 counties have received matching funds for projects, many of which are regional or national in scope. The department prioritized projects aligned with COVID-19 recovery.

Projects funded by recipient county are:

Adams County – Destination Gettysburg, $10,905: Launch Adams County Crop Hop, a farm and market experience. A digital pass will encourage visitors to discover working farms and farmers’ markets and win prizes along the way.

Allegheny County – Local Farm-to-Table Purchase, $71,500: To strengthen and improve Western Pennsylvania’s local food system through a dedicated, year-round public relations and marketing effort that promotes buying local.

Berks, Lehigh and Northampton Counties – Nurture Nature Center, $39,175: Create a new Buy Local challenge developed within a strong gamification framework by the Nurture Nature Center’s Buy Fresh Buy Local-Greater Lehigh Valley program.

Center County–Appalachian Food Works, $2,052: Launch the continuation of a consumer and producer awareness campaign, “What’s Local?” in central Pennsylvania.

Chester County – American Mushroom Institute, $40,000: The Mushroom Farmers of Pennsylvania Eat Better Build Back Better program will emphasize the culinary properties and health benefits of mushrooms, including naturally occurring vitamin D. The program will promote the contribution of fungi to soil health and carbon sequestration.

Cumberland County – Farmers on the Square, $1,620: Extend your reach beyond the city of Carlisle with a grassroots marketing campaign that includes posters, flyers, postcard-sized materials, street signs, flags, magnetic car decals, car stickers, and more. bumpers and window decals.

Cumberland County – Friends of Agriculture of Pennsylvania Foundation $1,159: Provide outreach and education services to military veteran farmers to help them market and diversify funding sources, while improving access to locally grown fresh produce for low-income consumers.

Cumberland County – Friends of Agriculture Foundation of Pennsylvania, $22,640: Develop educational programs that offer agriculture-focused education to elementary and middle school students in unique ways. The goal is to educate more children, educators and communities to help people understand where their food and fiber comes from.

Dauphin County – Keystone Wood Products Association, $6,000: Develop a social media plan emphasizing the benefits of actively managed logged forests and the positive economic, social and environmental aspects of hardwood production and jobs created by the industry.

Dauphin County – Pennsylvania Wine Association, $1,500: Support the Pennsylvania Wine Association conference and associated wine competition, bringing together industry leaders in a time that requires increased collaboration. The conference and contest assist in marketing to consumers and influencers of Pennsylvania wineries and wines.

Dauphin County – Pennsylvania Forest Products Association, $18,000: For a national hardwood campaign to educate consumers about the beauty, durability and lifetime value of Pennsylvania-specific hardwood products. The campaign will drive purchasing decisions that ultimately improve economic and environmental outcomes, strengthening our forest products communities from the rural areas where the supply chain originates to the urban and suburban manufacturing hubs where most family jobs in the industry.

Dauphin County – Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers Association, $60,000: Continue to promote the Pennsylvania potato industry to help growers recover from the pandemic. The funds will offset the cost of advertising, supplies and equipment to generate interest in potatoes grown in Pennsylvania.

Dauphin County – Farm Friends of Pennsylvania Foundation, $9,547: To meet the educational needs associated with the annual Pennsylvania Agricultural Exposition.

Dauphin County – Pennsylvania Vegetable Research and Marketing Program, $8,900: Produce new road signs, crop stickers used on road signs, styrene price cards, clip-on price cards and price stickers to promote Pennsylvania vegetables.

McKean County, Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group, $5,000: Produce PA hardwood species sample kits. Much like paint samples, these kits will allow recipients to explore, in a tactile way, the different colors, grain patterns, hardness and other qualities that are unique to each hardwood species and why there is no need for them. there is no substitute. These samples will showcase the exquisite quality of Pennsylvania wood products.

Mercer County – Helping Hands Ministries, Inc., $2,000: Address health and nutrition issues by increasing access to healthier food options from local Pennsylvania farmers to people who live in poor neighborhoods and food deserts.

Learn more about the The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s efforts to promote a thriving and resilient agriculture industry at agriculture.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shannon Powers – 717.603.2056, [email protected]

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