LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — When leaders of Sprout, MN heard about the USDA’s
Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program,
they knew they had something in mind with the potential to hit all the key goals of the program.
The program awarded nearly $10 million in 2022. Its goal was to fund projects that meet food needs of low-income individuals; increase self-reliance of communities in providing food needs of the community; and promote comprehensive response to local food access, farm and nutrition issues. Among those awarded was the Sprout plan.
The program awarded
Sprout, MN $233,803
to support a planned community owned grocery store (The Purple Carrot), permanent infrastructure for the Little Falls Farmers Market and utilization of Sprout food hub assets to reach more families in need with healthy food, according to Sprout executive director Arlene Jones. It’s three separate entities working to build the local foods scene as one big team.
Michael Johnson / Agweek
The Little Falls Farmers Market has been a standard in the community since the late 1800s. Early on it was a place to sell pigs, according to farmers market organizer Brad Pederson. He was managing the market on Wednesday, Aug. 23, in front of the Boys and Girls Club. As the market has grown back from just a small contingent, they are now looking for a permanent infrastructure that will allow them to share their wares out of the elements, yet still in an open air environment. Market president Birdie Pederson, wife of Brad, said they have big dreams for the market.
“We have one goal, bringing local produce to the consumer,” Birdie said of the collaboration of the trio including Sprout, Purple Carrot and the Little Falls Farmers Market.
Michael Johnson / Agweek
Birdie explained that the farmers market is happy where they are, on a major roadway in town with ample parking, but they lack the infrastructure to store things it takes to run a market. They’d like to have items on scene to avoid having to haul everything by truck or trailer each time they set up, twice a week through the growing season. And refrigeration options would help avoid food waste.
“Our hope is to expand and grow and continue bringing our local produce, fruits and vegetables directly to the consumer,” Birdie said.
Construction of the permanent market was anticipated for April 2025, according to the group’s application. It has goals of advancing access to low-income individuals by increasing market diversity and supportive programming to draw in low-income individuals.
The Purple Carrot Market — a community owned food cooperative, currently has over 730 community owners. That includes farmers and non-farmers who have given a one-time gift of at least $200. The Purple Carrot board has a goal of having 800 owners before they start their major capital campaign to raise the remaining funds for revamping the century old Victor Mall in downtown Little Falls into a food cooperative market largely sourced with local foods. It would be a year round market that organizers believe will fill food needs for the downtown community as well as be a tourism draw for the city.
Funds awarded for the Purple Carrot project allowed the hiring of a project coordinator in spring of 2023 to refine project costs and construction details. This coordinator works as a liaison between the community, the Purple Carrot board of directors and its owners. This startup food co-op is a significant piece of this latest fund cycle and an example of the level of support that local foods have from this community.
“There was a huge need for downtown access for people who don’t have the transportation to travel to the edge of the city to these larger stores and such,” Sprout food systems and outreach coordinator Cynthia Johnson said.
Johnson explained that they are doing things a bit backwards. First they bought the old mall building; then they began finding supporters, owners, that buy-in to the business for a stake in the cooperative. Finally, remodeling of the current building owned by The Purple Carrot Market is expected to be complete in April 2025. And then they plan to open it to a waiting world.
Michael Johnson / Agweek
The food cooperative is a community owned business, with much of the product coming from local producers. Purple Carrot board president Ava Antolik said a goal is to have 40-60% of the food be locally sourced.
The Purple Carrot got its start with three major grants. Antolik said it was local support, so much local support, that helped them win these competitive grants.
She said opening day, planned for 2025, is going to be an exciting day for the community and for those who have put in so much time and effort to plan this project.
“When our first customers step in the door I want them to see — a riot of color,” Antolik said. “I want fresh produce everywhere. I want fresh organic food, as well as food that will fit their individual dietary needs that you can’t find at other grocery stores. It will be essentially a one-stop shop.”
Jones said they want to make sure this is successful, so they are being careful to get a large support system of owners involved early before they even build and open this market.
“You can’t redo it, so they are being very diligent in asset management and capital campaign and fundraising in order to open the retail floor space of the Purple Carrot Market.”
This latest community food project grant also supports and expands utilization of Sprout MN to advance health and wellness through nutrition education. That will include Sprout working with SNAP-ED instructors to provide nutrition and culinary education to targeted groups in Sprout’s commercial kitchen across town from the outdoor and planned indoor markets.
They hope this education piece can reach 480 low-income residents — a 35% increase over past programming.
This is important because Jones said they’ve seen a gap in nutrition and cooking education that they’d like to work on together.
“As a country, we have swayed away from that, my mother’s generation, where everything was cooked from scratch,” Jones said.
Michael Johnson / Agweek
She admits that she and her husband both worked, so food had to be convenient to fit their lifestyle.
“So I cut corners because I didn’t have time, nor actually did I have the education” Jones said.
She sees these education pieces as a key in really helping the consumer learn how to use raw agricultural products and as an economic engine for the farmers who are producing them.
While these projects will soon bring new opportunities to the Little Falls area, the community has already been benefiting from the work of Sprout for over 10 years. Sprout is a federally recognized 501c3 non-profit organization born in 2012 when a group of women growers, entrepreneurs, economic developers and consumers came together to build up a more sustainable and resilient local food system. Its headquarters is located in Little Falls, but it serves much of the greater region with food drop off locations, CSAs and mobile markets to market the foods of its members across a five county region.
On Wednesday, Aug. 23, Jones was busy making sure CSA orders were prepped and ready near a wall of refrigeration that makes sure all their produce and meat stay fresh on site at Sprout headquarters. While she has her own farm to run as well, she mentioned it’s behind the computer that she has been most beneficial to the organization. She’s played a role in securing over $4 million in federal and state grants as well as local dollars for the non-profit in an effort to build a system that supports local growers and consumers.
“Without this grant funding we would not be able to advance food systems in our rural areas,” Jones said. She explains further that the food systems are food access points, such as a farmers market or cooperative. “We are all working to lift up and promote local foods as that food access point because we know the economic development contribution of agriculture, particularly in our rural communities.”
Why such a vibrant farmer collaborative in Little Falls, with a population of about 9,000 people? The city does not necessarily stand out in having greater needs than many other rural parts of the state, but needs still exist.
Little Falls has a poverty rate of 18.9%. That’s nearly twice that of Minnesota’s poverty rate (9.7%). The median income for the City of Little Falls is $40,031 compared to the state of Minnesota median income of $74,593. Feeding America data indicates that 9.7% of the total population is food insecure. The Healthy Food Access Portal indicates that 84% of the residents of Little Falls do not consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Perhaps what makes them stand out most is a dogged determination to grow and a support system that continues to grow by the day.
“Little Falls is a solid community that is very active in local food sustainability,” Jones said.
Antolik, who moved to Little Falls from Texas, said she wanted to get involved in the Purple Carrot board as a way to give back to a community that has welcomed her with open arms. She saw the kindness of the community in the fact that they received so many letters of support in their grant writing, that they actually couldn’t use them all.
Jones said she believes state and federal government recognize the importance of assisting community food projects like these and will continue to support them post-COVID as communities strive to beef up resiliency. But she adds that what’s going to make these projects succeed is having the community show up to support them once the doors are fully open.
The group plans to measure their success by watching for an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, increased participation in nutrition education, increased number of vendors and diversity of vendors and products, and equitable access to a community owned grocery store to decrease low income/low access rates, regardless of ability to acquire membership.
If you or your organization has a project that could meet similar goals, the next funding cycle opened Aug. 1 and remains open through Oct. 30, 2023, for the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program.
Apply or find more information
at
https://www.nifa.usda.gov/
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