Completed Project Report


Addressing Common Pain Points in Risk Management for the Small Independent Virginia Farmer

  • Award Amount: $49,551
  • Regional Center: Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2022 Education Projects

Extension RME Regional Centers
Extension Risk Management Education Region Map

Project Overview

This project addressed a lack of education about food safety and how to comply with regulations, and lack of knowledge about how to reach buyers through direct marketing. The specific targeted risk management strategies used in this project were workshops and one-on-one technical assistance in a) on-farm food safety practices such as cold storage, b) compliance with the Produce Safety Rule and eventual certification in Good Agricultural Practices, and c) approaches to marketing and social media. A total of seven workshops were hosted through this grant.   At the end of this project, Local Food Hub worked with a total of 131 unique farmers on CoolBot cold storage, GAP Certification (1:1 support for 7 farmers), on-farm risk assessments (1:1 support for 9 farmers), on-farm recordkeeping, social media support (1:1 support for 10 farmers) and representation and marketing via the Virginia Black Farmer Directory.


Number of Participants: 131

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

There are no promotional materials available for this project.

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

There are no educational materials available for this project.

REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.

DELIVERY AREA

DESCRIBE ANY UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF THE PROJECT:

HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE THE PROJECT IF YOU WERE TO DO IT AGAIN?

WHAT WERE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR YOUR PARTICIPANTS?

INDIVIDUAL STORIES / EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS / QUOTES