The Roanoke Foodshed Network (RFN) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) to launch the “Strong Food and Farm Future” project. The RFN includes over 50 partners that are community groups, nonprofit organizations, farmers, food businesses, community members, higher education institutions, and government agencies. The RFN is working together on a collective vision to build equitable and resilient food and farm systems in the Roanoke region of Southwest Virginia, which includes Roanoke City, Salem City, and Roanoke, Botetourt, Bedford, Franklin, Floyd, Montgomery, and Craig counties.

This funding will launch a unified marketing and storytelling campaign including a Regional Food and Farming Website, the Roanoke Region Food and Farm Trail, and multimedia content, narrative articles, podcasts, and a documentary-short. This marketing campaign will bring together partners from across the region, including Live Work Eat Grow (Montgomery), SustainFloyd (Floyd), and Land and Table (Lynchburg region).

This project will also support regional farmers. Virginia Association for Biological Farming (VABF), a leading RFN partner, will provide farmer education programs, farm tours, farmer listening sessions, and a regional food and farm summit. According to Becki DeRusseau, VABF’s Operations Manager, "Being part of the RFN helps VABF better reach and support farmers in the Roanoke region. We are so excited to be a part of this project as it will bolster our programming and capacity to support farm viability in the Roanoke region."

The USDA AMS is awarding $5.2 million to 10 partnerships across 10 states through the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) Program. This project will be implemented over a three-year period from December 2024 to September 2027.

Questions? Email Mo McGonagle at mo@leapforlocalfood.org.