The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) is awarding six Kentucky school districts grants to allow them to increase their abilities to grow and store more locally grown Farm to School products, Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell has announced.
“This project is the next step for growth in our Farm to School Program,” Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell said. “It gives us the ability to provide education and procurement training opportunities to our young future farmers as well as school food service professionals, all to provide a brighter future for Kentucky agriculture.”
The KDA grants awarded money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program for unique food service projects involving high school FFA chapters.
Grant awardees include:
- Barren County — $46,206 for a hydroponic container farm and a walk-in refrigerator to store Farm to School products
- Crittenden County — $10,298 for two hydroponic tower systems
- Graves County — $49,588 for five hydroponic tower systems and four reach-in coolers for storage
- Marion County— $50,000 for three Flex Farm hydroponics systems, one pass-through refrigerator, and one display case for grab-and-go
- Taylor County — $22,075 to establish a new 1-acre on-campus garden, install one hydroponics tower, and purchase one walk-in cooler for storage
- Union County — $50,000 for a new hydroponics system for greens and a refrigerated trailer for storage and transport
Read the entire release at The Lane Report