The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $14.2 million in 52 grants that support urban agriculture and innovative production, including a project in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This investment, which includes American Rescue Plan Act funds, will enable grant recipients like the Howard‐Suamico School District (HSSD), to increase food production and access in economically distressed communities, provide job training and education, and allow partners to develop business plans and zoning proposals. These grants build on $26.3 million in projects funded since 2020, and are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture through its Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP). 

Howard‐Suamico Goes Hydroponic, is a project that will improve the school's access to local, fresh, and nutritious food, while also teaching students about innovative agriculture production, using hydroponic technology.

Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Grants 

The Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) competitive grants program supports a wide range of activities through two types of grants, planning projects and implementation projects. Today’s announced recipients include 18 planning projects and 34 implementation projects. The grant to HSSD is for a planning/ an implementation project.

The planning projects will initiate or expand efforts of urban and suburban farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools and other stakeholders. These grantees will target areas of food access, education, business and start-up costs for new farmers, urban forestry, and policies related to zoning and other needs of urban production. Having more capacity to gather, process, move and store food in different geographic areas of the country will provide more options for producers to create value-added products and sell locally, which will support new economic opportunities and job creation in underserved communities. Additional regional capacity also will give consumers more options to buy locally produced products—helping ensure food is available to consumers—and reduce the climate impact of our food supply chain.

The implementation projects will accelerate urban, indoor and other agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers and improve local food access. They may support infrastructure needs, emerging technologies, education and urban farming policy implementation.  

In total, projects were funded in 27 states. For a complete list of grant recipients and project summaries, visit Urban Agriculture | USDA.

More Information 

OUAIP was established through the 2018 Farm Bill. It is led by NRCS and works in partnership with numerous USDA agencies that support urban agriculture and innovative production. These grants are part of a broader USDA investment in urban agriculture. Other efforts include:  

• Creating and managing a Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production to advise the Secretary on the development of policies and outreach relating to urban agriculture.   
• Renewing the People’s Garden Initiative, which celebrates collaborative gardens across the country and worldwide that benefit their communities by growing fresh, healthy food and supporting resilient, local food systems using sustainable practices, and providing greenspace.
• Providing cooperative agreements that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans.
• Investing in risk management education to broaden reach of crop insurance among urban producers.
• Organizing 17 FSA urban county committees to make important decisions about how FSA farm programs are administered locally. Urban farmers who participate in USDA programs in the areas selected are encouraged to participate by nominating and voting.

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