Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

The Department of Agriculture Tuesday announced the selection of recipients for about $4.1 million in grants and cooperative agreements for urban agriculture. Through funds come from the new USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. These are the first recipients of the grants and cooperative agreements. The program supports a wide range of activities through two grant types, which are Planning Projects and Implementation Projects. Activities include operating community gardens and nonprofit farms, increasing food production and access in economically distressed communities, providing job training and education, and developing business plans and zoning. Priority was given to projects located in or targeting an Opportunity Zone, which is a census tract designation for low-income communities. The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production was established through the 2018 Farm Bill and is led by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service For a complete list of grant and cooperative agreement recipients and project summaries, visit farmers.gov/urban.