Farm Aid awards grants to six state farming groups
Programs will be given $5,000 each to help agricultural preservation efforts
Farm Aid, which held its annual fundraising concert in Hartford this year, has given nearly $700,000 to farmers and farm support groups across the country in 2018 — including at least $30,000 to Connecticut farming-related organizations.
The six Connecticut groups are each receiving $5,000 Farm Aid grants for programs in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and a trust working to preserve agricultural land across the state.
“As farmers continue to face incredible threats to their survival, our grant decisions were guided by the need to first and foremost strengthen organizations that provide essential resources to keep family farmers on the land,” said Farm Aid president Willie Nelson.
Nelson performed at the Hartford concert in September along with his Farm Aid co-founders, Neil Young and John Mellencamp and dozens of other musicians and groups that donated their time and talents to the benefit concert. It was Farm Aid’s first-ever Connecticut concert.
Farm Aid officials say American farm families are facing their worst crisis since the 1980s. Farm Aid grants to farmers and farming organizations in New England as a whole total $100,000 this year.
Here’s a look at the Connecticut programs that are receiving Farm Aid grants:
Hartford Food System, $5,000 to help farmers put together a Connecticut food system plan.
Bridgeport Farmers Market Collaborative, $5,000 to help Bridgeport farmers’ markets and local farmers.
CitySeed Inc. in New Haven, $5,000 for a program to support farmers by building networks between local farms and Connecticut food businesses.
KNOX Inc. in Hartford, $5,000 for its incubator farm program that provides lowincome farmers with land, training and support to help them launch their own family farm businesses.
Green Village Initiative in Bridgeport, $5,000 to cultivate more farmers in Bridgeport with youth leadership programs and urban farm training for adults.
Connecticut Farmland Trust, $5,000 to help preserve farmland across the state from non-agricultural development.