TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. — North Country farmers and food producers will soon be able to access shared regional processing facilities, distribution services and marketing opportunities, thanks to a successful grant proposal from The Hub, also known as the ADK Food Hub, in Tupper Lake, N.Y. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) announced the small farm and food hub has been awarded nearly $500,000 in grant funding through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Food Promotion Program.

Hub owner Cherie Whitten will use the $395,000 grant and $100,000 of largely in-kind matching funds to provide small-scale and low-income food producers with support for production, aggregation, distribution and marketing of local food. The project will ultimately bring more high-quality, nutritious food to rural and low-income consumers who currently have limited access to local farm products.

“I am so pleased to have resources to help fund my passion for healthy local food production and the related economic strength of our community,” said Whitten, who also owns and operates Whitten Family Farm in Winthrop, N.Y. “I hope to utilize this grant to support the growth of local food production infrastructure, focusing on crops that are the most profitable to our farmers and nutritious for our consumers. I hope this project helps to retain a portion of the billion dollars that leaves the North Country each year to purchase non-locally produced food. The retention of our local food dollars should have a strong positive economic impact in our area.”

Read the full article in the Adirondack Almanack.