FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2021
ARLINGTON, VA — The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation is pleased to announce that 50 women farmers and entrepreneurs have been selected for the class of 2022 Women’s Farm2Food Accelerator program. The online accelerator will help women farmers who have grown, created and marketed their food and beverage products explore expanding into new markets. Participants will receive training in marketing, product development, food safety, packaging and knowing costs.
“We are excited to welcome 24 women from Oregon, 10 women from Nevada and 16 women from Washington,” NASDA Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Rowland said. “We are proud to continue our work with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Agriculture and adding Nevada Department of Agriculture with class two.”
In addition to the online training, the NASDA Foundation will provide opportunities for one-on-one consulting with product development, pricing strategies and providing access to marketing specialists for the participants. The women will be able to showcase their products at the upcoming Good Food Mercantile to be held in Portland, Oregon in April 2022. NASDA Foundation partners with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Nevada Department of Agriculture, Oregon State University Food Innovation Center and Union Kitchen to develop and administer the 15-week training program.
Background:
The NASDA Foundation worked with a team of partners in Oregon and Washington to develop the core curriculum for the Farm2Food Accelerator. This curriculum was later adapted to meet the needs of women farmers in Florida and Nevada. The core curriculum focuses on supporting women farmers and entrepreneurs who grow specialty crops for a value-added food or beverage product. NASDA Foundation was awarded sub-grants through the 2019 Specialty Crop Block Grant program administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. The grant program provides state departments of agriculture with funds to strengthen the specialty crop industry.
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The NASDA Foundation is the only educational,outreach and research organization that directly serves the nation’s state departments of agriculture. NASDA Foundation’s mission is to advance agriculture to shape a changing world. The NASDA Foundation works with states to connect farmers to new markets, inspire change across the supply chain, and preserve the environment while maintaining agricultural viability. To learn more about NASDA Foundation, please visit http://www.nasda.foundation.
