The USDA recently cut short a five-year commitment to help small- and mid-sized food and farm operations around the country. Arizona producers lost millions in potential grant funding.
The Regional Food Business Centers program offers technical assistance, resource coordination as well as grants.
Though now the head of Local First Arizona, Kimber Lanning, says the USDA will only honor $1.5 million out of the $4.1 million allocated for Arizona.
One Valley farmer Rodney Machokoto was planning to apply for a grant after a two-year stint on the center’s advisory board.
"But we haven’t gotten to the point of processing which was where the original business center was going to come in to take us to that next level," he said.
He is the co-owner of Machokoto Family Farms. He hoped to enhance school partnerships.
“A lot of times we would just sell the produce as it is to the schools, but a lot of times the work load of the schools it would be better if it gets to them when it’s already processed [like] shredded carrots or diced carrots or cubed carrots or, same thing with tomatoes," Machokoto said.
He says Machokoto Family Farms also provides produce to food banks and farmers’ markets.
