July 25, 2024 — Last month, the Wallace Center team got some much-needed time together and spent a week along the banks of the Illinois River at Pere Marquette State Park. Besides enjoying time to connect as a team, we made plans for the rest of the year–including laying the groundwork for strategic planning this fall that will guide the Wallace Center’s agriculture and food systems strategy in the years ahead. We’ll have more to share on that in a future update.
One of the most gratifying parts of our time together was getting to volunteer at the North County Agricultural Education Center in North St. Louis, operated by A Red Circle, one of the Wallace Center’s Farmer Conservation Leader Subaward Program subawardee organizations. It was so fun to get our hands in the dirt alongside our partners and friends.
As always, thank you for your support and please reach out if you want to learn more about these initiatives.
Wallace Center co-hosts webinar, clarifies complex federal grant application
As part of Wallace Center’s commitment to increasing access to federal funding to reach grassroots organizations, we co-hosted a webinar in early April to demystify the application process for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI).
This national funding opportunity will fund $22M in partnerships that expand access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increase the use of conservation practices on grazing lands. The Wallace Center, in partnership with National Grazing Lands Coalition, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, explained to the participants the types of eligible activities, emphasized priority areas, application requirements and more. The webinar hosts encouraged prospective applicants to connect with one another and consider partnering on a joint application to build regional capacity.
Participants heard from Felicia Bell of National Center for Appropriate Technology and Christian Lovell of Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition, two current GLCI grantees who shared their experiences in implementing GLCI projects and shared what their organizations were able to do with this GLCI funding. One hundred twenty individuals registered for this webinar and at last count, the recorded webinar had over 245 views.
Awards have not been announced to date, however, USDA received approximately $58M in funding requests from 80 applicants. The webinar recording and resources are here.
Interested in learning more about the important work these organizations are leading in their communities? Connect with them! Subscribe to their newsletters and follow them on social media.
2024 Community Food Systems Mentorship wraps, participants make plans to remain connected
The Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network (FSLN) recently wrapped up its eighth cohort of Community Food Systems Mentorship program. Thanks to financial support from the USDA’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, these 36 mentees comprised the FSLN’s largest cohort to date, with over half of mentees identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and representing a broad spectrum of food systems work and roles in 22 states across the U.S.
Of their experience in the mentorship program, one mentee mentioned the “camaraderie and general sense of forward motion” as a valuable part of working with a mentor. The 12 mentors who participated in this program brought a variety of skills and talents to the program. We are so grateful for their participation in facilitating the intergenerational knowledge flow essential to food systems transformation work! During the close out calls with mentors and mentees, there was a collective ask for an in-person gathering to continue building and weaving relationships across the cohorts. We’re excited to start planning for that convening! You can read more about the mentorship program here.
Farm to Food Assistance Learning Lab ends, report forthcoming
Over the past year, the Food Systems Leadership Network (FSLN) has supported organizations across the country that are implementing equity-centered, community-driven Farm to Food Assistance programs, including some that are funded through the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA). The Farm to Food Assistance Learning Lab, was comprised of 10 organizations that met monthly for mutual learning and support of their efforts to pay farmers fair market value for their product and channel that food to community members in need.
In this Lab, community organizations from across the country each received $20,000 in funding and technical support from the Wallace Center team and four Lab Advisors – Pakou Hang, Alison Cohen, Myra Marcellin and Erin Pirro. Throughout the Lab, the teams and the Lab Advisors served as co-investigators and contributors to our overall research on farm to food assistance.
For context, the Wallace Center conducted the first national Farm to Food Assistance survey in 2022 that demonstrated the positive impact that farm to food assistance programs have for farmers and communities.
The data from the survey, along with information and insights gathered through countless interviews, focus groups, and conversations in the Farm to Food Assistance Community of Practice are now being channeled into a comprehensive report to be published this fall. Stay tuned!
Keep up with monthly project updates through the Food Systems Leadership Network Catalyst, Regenerative Ag Idea Network Digest, or Pasture Project newsletter!