MONTEREY, CA – National produce distributor PRO*ACT is proud to announce the expansion of the company’s annual local farm grant program. The grant program called Cultivating Change has increased to $75,000 and represents PRO*ACT’s commitment to creating a sustainable produce supply chain from seed to fork. Farmers nationwide can now apply for funds to invest in their farms and grow their overall capacity.
Applications for this year’s grant program will be accepted until December 15, 2017. Panel review and popular voting will be conducted January 1–31, 2018, and winners will be announced on February 5, 2018.
At the end of this grant cycle, PRO*ACT will have invested $200,000 in local farms from coast to coast. Those funds have enabled past winners to achieve sustainability goals such as rainwater collection systems, building sustainable greenhouse operations, and launching farm-to-school programs.
“The Cultivating Change grants make it possible for local farmers to fund projects which invest in their current and future operations. The improvements pave a sustainable path for the next generation of farmers. We are proud to give back to farms that make such a large contribution to their local community.”, said Max Yeater, PRO*ACT President and CEO.
PRO*ACT’s sustainability program, Greener Fields Together launched the Cultivating Change grant program in 2015. In just two years, the funding has positively impacted more than twenty farms such as Leaf Safari in Manor, Texas. PRO*ACT awarded $10,000 for farmers to build a rainwater collection system.
“With the grant, we were able to alleviate 4,000 gallons a day of water that we were pulling from the city and our community,” said Scott Rickstrew, General Manager.
Complete application guidelines, stories of past winners, and eligibility details are available online at www.cultivatingchange.org. # # #
About Cultivating Change:
Cultivating Change is PRO*ACT’s annual grant program focused on helping local farmers build sustainability tools and programs. About Greener Fields Together : Greener Fields Together is PRO*ACT’s sustainability program. The initiative is a collaboration of environmentally responsible parties, including farmers, distributors and foodservice operators, who have come together to make steady, measurable improvements in sustainability and food safety practices through all levels of the produce supply chain.
About PRO*ACT:
PRO*ACT is North America’s leading distributor of fresh food to the foodservice and retail industries, sourcing from premier national, regional and local farmers. PRO*ACT streamlines the produce supply chain, offering significant cost benefits. PRO*ACT serves as an an easy, one-call solution to source the freshest produce from more than 70 third-party inspected, independently owned, local distribution centers across the United States and Canada. PRO*ACT provides category cost management through commodity contract pricing, in-house consultation services and integrated produce program distribution management.
Source: PRO*ACT