Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research awards grant to Ohio State University to launch urban sustainable food system
The Mansfield Microfarm Project will provide both training and microfarm kits to approximately a dozen initial producers, and help them farm cooperatively and aggregate their produce for marketability.
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), Washington, D.C., awarded a matching grant to the Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio, to launch a $2 million urban sustainable food system project that will increase access to fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops while supporting the local economy.
The microfarm network will progress over three years, allowing researchers and growers to calibrate the growing, harvesting and marketing processes for the local setting. In the meantime, a parallel interdisciplinary research team will measure the ways in which this embedded local production system impacts a range of local issues from food insecurity to urban beautification to food literacy and educational achievement.