Finland Food Chain Receives Grant from MN Department of Agriculture

The Finland Food Chain was recently awarded the Minneso­ta Local Food Purchas­ing Assistance grant from the Minnesota Department of Agri­culture. This grant is worth $84,000 and is to be used to “purchase meat, eggs, grains, and produce from local and regional farms and dis­tribute them for free to deserving populations in Eastern Lake Coun­ty every other week through September of 2025,” according to Dan Cahill Mathews from the Finland Food Chain.

About 30 shares are distributed every oth­er week, and families who are recipients of SNAP or WIC, se­niors aging at home, community members who use the Silver Bay Food Shelf, and “any­body who is food inse­cure” is prioritized.

“This program will benefit residents of Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, Finland, Isabella, and surrounding com­munities who are sig­nificantly struggling to afford groceries and want to eat fresh, local foods. This will also benefit farmers in our region by paying them fairly for their products and keeping more money in our lo­cal economy. We are partnering with farms in Finland, Isabella, Silver Creek Town­ship, Two Harbors, and around Duluth to source the food that will be in our shares. We are also partnering with local businesses and organizations such as the Finland Co-op, North Shore Area Part­ners, and Arrowhead Economic Opportuni­ty Agency (AEOA),” Cahill Mathews ex­plained.

The Minnesota Local Food Purchasing As­sistance grant is a one time grant designed to “strengthen local and regional food systems and support local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers through building and expanding economic opportunities.” These grants were funded by the Minnesota Depart­ment of Agriculture as a short term economic investment to “build relationships and ca­pacity for farmers in addition to establish­ing new food distribu­tion networks,” Cahill Mathews continued.