Springfield Community Gardens

The Purpose of the Project Is to Develop, Coordinate, and Expand Local and Regional Food Business Enterprises to Help Increase Access to and Availability of Locally and Regionally Produced Agricultural Products. This Project Addresses the Needs of Small Scale, Under-resourced and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers in the Region Who Often Struggle to Compete With Large Scale Producers by Providing Direct Lines and Networks to Commercial and Institutional Sale Opportunities. the Program Focuses on Supporting the Processing, Aggregation, Distribution, and Storage of Local and Regional Food Products by Providing Refrigerated Transportation, Assisting Farms to Meet Institutional Buying Standards and Providing Indirect Producer to Consumer Marketing. SCG Will Serve as the Lead Agency for the Project and as an Intermediary Organization to Benefit Small Farm Operations Serving Local Markets. SCG Is Already Aggregating From Farmers and This Project Will Build Upon This Established Foundation. the Project Will Impact an Anticipated New and Existing 25 SCG Network Participating Farmers Producers, 18 Institutional Network Buyers (including One New Anticipated Local Regional Distributor), 300 Additional Local Regional Farmers Who Will Have Access to Institutional Food Safety Workshops, and 130,000 Consumers Reached Within the Community at Large Through an Advertising Campaign Designed to Promote Local Food. These Figures, After Initial Project Pilot Funding, Are Anticipated to Grow Continually and Produce a Project That Is Self-sustaining. the Benefits to Farm and Ranch Operations Serving Local Markets Include an Increase in Sales, in Kind Marketing Provided by the Project, Food Safety Training, and a Reduction in Transport Costs.