Cultivating Change
January 20, 2020
Frecon Farms just won a $10,000 grant from Cultivating Change!!!
Steve Frecon is an outstanding partner of ours. We are thrilled to announce that his family farm won a $10,000 grand prize Cultivating Change grant in the Food Safety category for their Orchard Perimeter Animal Control Fence project. This fencing will improve their food safety program, provide permanent environmental sustainability for wildlife living around the orchard, and increase fruit production. Due to steadily increasing populations of white tail deer, Frecon has seen a 40% decrease in total fruit production of apple and peach blocks bordering neighboring woodland. Their current management program has proven to leave the deer population unchanged.
Quick Background:
Cultivating Change is a local farm grant program offered by our sustainability initiative Greener Fields Together. It aims to fund project and pursuits of small and mid-size farms in three key areas: wholesale readiness, food safety, and environmental sustainability. Grants are funded on an annual basis to qualifying growers through a merit-based peer review panel. These grants allow these folk to do what they do best: grow.
This grant program is funded by Greener Fields Together and the PRO*ACT network of fresh distribution specialists. Every time a distributor in the network purchases a package from a farm in the network, a small donation is made to the Cultivating Change fund– and these donations add up!
I am glad that I was able to announce the news. We have been doing business with them for years and they provide many of our smaller apples used in schools. The funds are going to alleviate almost a quarter of the cost of this project.
Congratulations, Frecon Farms!
Liz G.
Marketing Manager
The purpose of this blog to share my 9 1/2 years of produce industry insight. Enjoy more fresh produce, buy with confidence, and let’s move fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables to the center of the plate!
