Land Stewardship Project in Montevideo, Minnesota, Receives $305,000 Grant to Support Local Foods Program

MONTEVIDEO — The Land Stewardship Project has been awarded a $305,000 Local Food Promotion Program grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support building a resilient and community-led local food system in west central Minnesota, according to a news release from the organization.

Land Stewardship Project said the new funding will be used to:

• Increase local farmer income through sales to local wholesale buyers, including schools and food access programs;

• Increase market access for producers by educating wholesale buyers and connecting them with local producers;

• Increase local food access through local foods sales in schools, food access programs and food businesses; and
• Expand and strengthen private-public partnership around local foods in west central Minnesota by adding new partners to the Minnesota Valley Local Foods Network.

Land Stewardship Project is a private nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture and to develop healthy communities. Besides Montevideo, the organization has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston and South Minneapolis.