The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) will administer the LFPA Plus program funds through a continuation of (1) a partnership with the only statewide food bank, CT Foodshare (2) through awards made from a competitive grants process. Awardees are Brass City Harvest, City of Bridgeport, Click Inc., Partners for a Sustainable Healthy Community, New London Community Meal Center, Forge City Works, and Vertical Church. Both avenues allow for sub awards to local organizations to purchase and distribute Connecticut Grown farm products.
CT DoAg shall foster in-state relationships and build sustainable market opportunities for CT producers, with an emphasis on supporting small and socially disadvantaged producers to increase the amount of fresh, local farm product distributed to underserved populations in the state. CT DoAg also aims to increase awareness of federal and state nutrition assistance benefits which can be used to purchase CT Grown farm products through the distribution of outreach materials to program recipients. Through DoAg’s work with partners and affiliated stakeholders, sharing of best practices and successes, the department hopes to foster sustainable new markets for purchasing CT Grown local products especially from socially disadvantaged producers for underserved populations.