Dingell Praises USDA Block Grant
Washington, DC – Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following remarks after learning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will award Michigan $1,415,489 in block grants to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) will distribute the funds to applicants who met the USDA’s qualifications.
“I just toured many of our farms around the 15th District last month and I met with the wonderful people who make them work,” Dingell said. “I am not surprised by this news. The entities getting this investment will help farmers, restaurants, as well as local merchants to increase access to specialty crops and ensure the success of our specialty crop producers. This will also help our farmers in Michigan to continue to ensure that the food they are producing and processing is safe. We need a permanent solution to address our food safety concerns, but I’m happy to see our farmers get a little bit of help in this area.”
This grant money will allow MDA to:
- Raise awareness of the benefits of the Culinary Tourism promotion around the state and engage more Michigan restaurants in supporting local specialty crop producers
- Partner with The Starting Block Inc. to provide food safety, good handling practices and traceback training for start-up specialty food entrepreneurs and larger existing specialty crop processors, distributors, and brokers
- Partner with Michigan Food and Farming Systems to teach specialty crop producers to implement food safety plans on their farms and prepare for food safety audits their buyers may require
- Partner with Michigan State University to update research plantings to reflect modern and future horticultural systems and agricultural technology for Michigan’s fruit producers
- Partner with the Michigan Bean Commission to assess the potential for adoption and use of ‘narrow row technology’ by Michigan dry bean growers
Partner with Fair Food Network and Eastern Market Corporation (EMC), with support from Michigan State University Product Center (MSUPC) to lead a project to assist Michigan specialty crop producers, processors, and distributors to identify new opportunities for Michigan-grown fresh and minimally processed products, identify regional packers/distributors that have the desire to source locally, and establish an effective council of producers and processors to build and maintain a sustainable supply chain in this region
Michigan is one of the nation’s leading producers of specialty crops like as apples, asparagus, beans, blueberries and cherries and is the second most diverse state in terms of crops. Specialty crops are defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture.
