DEM Announces Over $270K in Grant Awards to Help RI Farmers Expand Market Access for Specialty Crops

Published on Thursday, August 29, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is announcing that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded over $270,000 through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) to help Rhode Island farmers expand market access for local fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops. The four projects will help enhance the competitiveness of Rhode Island specialty crops that are vital to Rhode Islanders’ health and well-being. 

Among the projects is the expansion of the RI Grown Brand – which aims to highlight, promote and market specialty crops grown in the Ocean State. DEM’s Division of Agriculture and Forest Environment will work to expand RI Grown program to the retail sector to drive the knowledge and consumption of locally grown specialty crops and value-added products made with local specialty crops. The project will focus on expansion and awareness in the retail space, specifically groceries and restaurants where the public is purchasing crops. Additionally, the project will support specialty crop producers throughout RI offering support with marketing, branding, program improvements and access for producers. This project will increase the footprint of the RI Grown brand and support the movement into retail markets while bolstering DEM marketing efforts in direct-to-consumer sales via farmers markets. DEM’s RI Grown webpage is chock-full of resources to help connect consumers with Rhode Island grown products. Additional funded projects include a focus on increasing awareness and availability of specialty crops in Farm to School programs and increasing competitiveness of RI Specialty Crop producers in the market.

“We are happy to once again be partnered with Rhode Island on the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The innovative projects funded through this program will strengthen U.S. specialty crop production and markets and ensure Americans have sustained access to fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops and support the region’s specialty crop growers to help ensure their long-term success.”

“DEM is always working to connect consumers with RI Grown food to support Rhode Island farmers, food businesses, and our environment,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “The SCBGP funding supports local specialty crop growers and promotes the long-term viability of our state’s agriculture by supporting DEM’s efforts to raise consumer awareness of fresh and delicious RI Grown produce.”

2024 SCBGP recipients include:

• Farm Fresh Rhode Island; $37,526, Sowing Knowledge, Reaping Change: Empowering Rhode Island Students to Lead the Farm to School Movement
• University of Rhode Island; $60,351.87, Tastes of Home: Improving Yields of Tropical Specialty Vegetables for Immigrants in Rhode Island
• Southside Community Land Trust; $33,478.71, Measurable Enhancements to Specialty Crop Market Competitiveness for Historically Underserved Farmers and Consumers in Rhode Island
• DEM’s Division of Agriculture and Forest Environment; $119,588.19, Expansion of the RI Grown program. 

The funding for the SCBGP grants is authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill and FY2024 funding is awarded for a three-year period beginning Sept. 30, 2024. The funding to Rhode Island is part of a total of $72.9 million in non-competitive FY 2024 SCBGP funding awarded to 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia. Since 2006, USDA has invested over $1 billion through the SCBGP to fund nearly 12,000 projects that have increased the long-term successes of producers and enhanced marketing opportunities for U.S. specialty crops products. The SCBGP funding supports farmers growing specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery crops. USDA’s support will strengthen U.S. specialty crop production and markets, ensuring an abundant, affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops, which are vital to the health and well-being of all Americans. 

Rhode Island’s SCBGP is funded under the USDA to enhance the competitiveness of local specialty crops through increasing consumption through consumer awareness of RI Grown produce and plants through buy local promotions; creating new marketing opportunities for suppliers of RI produce and specialty crop plants through nontraditional markets; research and development to introduce new crops to RI producers to incorporate; and increasing on-farm food safety practices and plants already grown and offered in RI. Since 2016, DEM has awarded more than $1,000,000 in grants through the SCBGP. For more information about the SCBGP, please visit here. 

DEM continues to work across many fronts to benefit and strengthen Rhode Island’s green economy and to assist local farmers and fishers in growing their businesses. DEM continues to make investments in critical infrastructure as well as provide farm incubation space to new farmers through its Urban Edge Farm and Snake Den Farm properties. There are more than 1,000 farms sprinkled across the state and Rhode Island is home to a thriving young farmer network. According to the recently published 2022 Census of Agriculture, which is conducted once every five years by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rhode Island has the highest percentage of beginning farmers in the country. Both the number of farms and total land in farms in RI grew from 2017 to 2022 according to the census data, demonstrating the increased support for local agriculture and food throughout the state. Supporting local agriculture benefits all Rhode Islanders, ensures our future food security, enhances our environment, and celebrates the state’s unique food cultures and landscape.

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Sign up here to receive the latest press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your inbox.