Seven food programs in Northern Minnesota are among the first recipients of the state Department of Agriculture's Farm to Food Security Grant.
Organizations in Aitkin, Carlton, Itasca, Cook, Cass and St. Louis counties received funds to provide their communities with free food from small farms and other local producers.
The state Legislature approved the grant program during their 2025 session to fill the gap left behind by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. The federal government cut the USDA program in March of 2025.
The first round of grants, which were announced Monday, Sept. 28, distributed a total of about $1.3 million to 22 projects statewide. The grants ranged from $30,000 to $100,000.
The only six-digit recipient in Northern Minnesota was Second Harvest Northland, which has offices in Grand Rapids and Duluth. The organization serves more than 75,000 people each year.
Second Harvest Northland President Shaye Moris said the organization's food shelves have seen a significant increase in overall usage, especially among seniors.
"This grant will go a long way to make sure that neighbors have the foods they prefer to thrive, including fresh produce," Moris said.
She said the program will provide produce to the organization's 77 food shelves in Minnesota and Wisconsin while also serving area farmers.
"It really has a dual benefit," she said.
Kristine Jonas runs the Virginia Farmers Market Hub, which received a grant of about $33,900.
Each month, Jonas distributes 20 boxes of local food to residents. She said the small size helps her procure the most local food possible, and she prioritizes items important to Northern Minnesota's food culture, like wild rice.
"Then [the recipients of food boxes] usually get recipes from me," Jonas said, "and I'll list the farmers whose produce I delivered to them that month."
The Virginia Farmers Market Hub was a recipient of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program prior to its cancellation. She said navigating fluctuations in funding can be tricky.
"It's hard when funding is cut because food isn't cheap," she said. "We need federal, state and local funding ... and that has really taken a dive in the last couple years."
Jonas meets regularly with other hubs in Northern Minnesota, including those in Aitkin and Grand Rapids, to navigate grant opportunities. She said the Food to Farm Security Grant was more competitive and complicated than its federal predecessor, and to earn it, she worked with four other people on the application.
Collaboration, she said, keeps organizations like hers going.
"When I started this, there was this fear I was coming in to possibly take other people's funding, and that wasn't the case," she said. "It's cooperation. We coordinate and troubleshoot to figure out ways to help our farmers and communities and feed more people."
The seven Northern Minnesota recipients are:
- Community Food Shelf at First Lutheran, Aitkin County, $50,000
- Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Carlton County, $49,988
- Grand Rapids Farmers' Market, Itasca County, $49,999
- Northwoods Food Project, Cook County, $30,644.48
- Pine River - Backus Family Center, Cook County, $47.929
- Second Harvest Northland, St. Louis County, $100,000
- Virginia Farmers Market Hub, St. Louis County, $33,882.56
