The Farm Aid Growing the Good Food Movement Grant program recently awarded The Valley Stewardship Network $5000 for its work with the Fifth Season Cooperative. The grant supports Fifth Season during its first year as it develops an efficient distribution model for farm pick-up, aggregation, and delivery to institutions in SW Wisconsin.
The grant also funds the creation of an educational website that includes information regarding sustainable farm practice trainings and workshops, federal and state grant opportunities, and energy audit resources.
The Fifth Season Cooperative recently launched its website, www.fifthseason.coop, which provides visitors with information about membership, investing, and governance as well as the latest co-op and local food news.
The site also links to Fifth Season’s Food Network Software, an online tool that aggregates and inventories available food from all producers and processors in the network; allows buyers to place orders; and administers the delivery of the food, payments to producers, processors and distributors, and payments from customers.
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young started Farm Aid in 1985 to raise money to support family farms, build local and regional food systems, connect farmers directly to consumers, and create new markets for family farmers. In addition to Farm Aid’s work throughout the year to build a thriving family farm-centered system of agriculture, Farm Aid also runs an annual grant program. In 2010, Farm Aid distributed $408,100 to 60 family farm and rural service organizations nationwide. These funds were invested in programs that help farm families stay on their land, build local markets, confront the threat of corporate control of agriculture, train new farmers, and support farmer-to-farmer programs for more sustainable agricultural practices.
The Fifth Season Cooperative is a newly launched, multi-stakeholder cooperative in Viroqua that provides the infrastructure and coordination needed to help rebuild the 7 Rivers Region’s food system. As a multi-stakeholder cooperative, Fifth Season is comprised of six different classes of members that span the entire supply chain at the local level. Fifth Season was started from a DATCP 2010 Buy Local Buy Wisconsin grant that was awarded to Vernon Economic Development Association to provide guidance and coordination during the Co-op’s first two years. The board of directors is currently focused on signing up growers and buyers for the 2011 harvest season.
For more information contact Nicole Penick at vsnnicole@gmail.com or 608-637-3615 and Sue Noble at snoble@veda-wi.org or 608-637-5396.
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Farm Aid Grant Awarded for Fifth Season Cooperative
Posted: February 7th, 2011The Farm Aid Growing the Good Food Movement Grant program recently awarded The Valley Stewardship Network $5000 for its work with the Fifth Season Cooperative. The grant supports Fifth Season during its first year as it develops an efficient distribution model for farm pick-up, aggregation, and delivery to institutions in SW Wisconsin.
The grant also funds the creation of an educational website that includes information regarding sustainable farm practice trainings and workshops, federal and state grant opportunities, and energy audit resources.
The Fifth Season Cooperative recently launched its website, www.fifthseason.coop, which provides visitors with information about membership, investing, and governance as well as the latest co-op and local food news.
The site also links to Fifth Season’s Food Network Software, an online tool that aggregates and inventories available food from all producers and processors in the network; allows buyers to place orders; and administers the delivery of the food, payments to producers, processors and distributors, and payments from customers.
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young started Farm Aid in 1985 to raise money to support family farms, build local and regional food systems, connect farmers directly to consumers, and create new markets for family farmers. In addition to Farm Aid’s work throughout the year to build a thriving family farm-centered system of agriculture, Farm Aid also runs an annual grant program. In 2010, Farm Aid distributed $408,100 to 60 family farm and rural service organizations nationwide. These funds were invested in programs that help farm families stay on their land, build local markets, confront the threat of corporate control of agriculture, train new farmers, and support farmer-to-farmer programs for more sustainable agricultural practices.
The Fifth Season Cooperative is a newly launched, multi-stakeholder cooperative in Viroqua that provides the infrastructure and coordination needed to help rebuild the 7 Rivers Region’s food system. As a multi-stakeholder cooperative, Fifth Season is comprised of six different classes of members that span the entire supply chain at the local level. Fifth Season was started from a DATCP 2010 Buy Local Buy Wisconsin grant that was awarded to Vernon Economic Development Association to provide guidance and coordination during the Co-op’s first two years. The board of directors is currently focused on signing up growers and buyers for the 2011 harvest season.
For more information contact Nicole Penick at vsnnicole@gmail.com or 608-637-3615 and Sue Noble at snoble@veda-wi.org or 608-637-5396.