More than $3.5 million will be available for small-scale food production in Hawaiʻi.
The money will be distributed through the Micro-Grant for Food Security Program (MGFSP), a federal program meant to increase local food production and improve food production.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono announced the funding amount from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Too many families in Hawaiʻi and across the U.S. lack access to affordable, healthy food options within their own communities,” Hirono said in a statement. “These grants will help people in Hawaiʻi access more locally-grown food options — increasing food security across the islands."
"I am proud to have supported the provision in the 2018 Farm Bill that enabled this funding and I will continue working to strengthen federal support for food security projects across our state.”
The grant program is operated by the state Department of Agriculture, which has offered grants under the program for three years.
Department Chair Sharon Hurd said more than 1,100 households and 25 organizations in Hawaiʻi have taken advantage of the micro-grants from the MGFSP.
“Food security increases when we grow what we eat and eat what we grow—the MGFSP funds can be used to purchase, for example, gardening tools or equipment, soil, amendments, seeds, plants, animals, canning equipment, refrigerators/freezers, fencing, vertical farming units—to increase food production,” Hurd said.
The Agriculture Department has accepted applications from backyard farmers and other individuals and groups.
The $3.5 million will be for the 2024 application period, the DOA said. It represents a $500,000 increase from the state’s original award for the period.
The state provided $2 million for the grant program this year.
