(01/25/2016- ATLANTA)-Today, on behalf of the White House Rural Council, 6 federal agencies joined together to declare 27 communities selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative helping people create walkable, healthy, economically vibrant neighborhoods through local food enterprise. Under Local Foods, Local Places, a team of experts will help community members set goals and project plans like farmers markets, local food cooperatives, community gardens, and other food-related business that can boost local economies and drive neighborhood revitalization.
Discover Downtown Middlesboro, Incorporated in Middlesboro, Kentucky, projects to create pallet gardens, low-cost mobile food carts, and business strategies for restaurants; a co-op grocery store; and other local food enterprises to employ low-income residents.
The selected communities were chosen from in excess of 300 applicants. Together, they will gain technical assistance valued at $850,000.
The White House Rural Council and 6 federal agencies, including the E.P.A., U.S.D.A., U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Transportation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Delta Regional Authority, joined together to declare the selection of the communities.
Each Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP) partner community works with a team of experts who help community members recognize local assets and opportunities, set goals for revitalizing downtowns and neighborhoods, develop an implementation project and then identify targeted resources from the participating federal agencies to help implement those plans.
Launched in 2014, LFLP has already helped 26 communities make a difference in people's lives. With technical assistance through LFLP, participants are taking innovative approaches to common challenges, like launching business incubators to support food entrepreneurs and starting cooperative grocery stores to help revitalize main streets. They are developing centrally located community kitchens and food hubs to aggregate and market local foods. Through the integration of transportation and walkability planning they are connecting people to markets and local restaurants. Health outcomes are being targeted through school and community programs that teach children about nutrition, provide hands-on experience growing food and expand local markets and increase access to them through expanded use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
For more information on the initiative:
http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/local-foods-local-places
Connect with E.P.A. Region four on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast
