Small farmers and early-stage food entrepreneurs face numerous challenges as they work to build sustainable businesses and create or strengthen local food systems. At the earliest stages, these businesses may be perceived as too risky for traditional financing or may lack the capacity and network relationships needed to obtain sustainable funding. Small financial boosts, such as Michigan Good Food Fund’s Seed Awards, can provide critical support in these formative stages.
The Michigan Good Food Fund, administered by Fair Food Network, is a collaborative network of lenders and technical assistance providers that offer flexible funding and tailored business assistance to Michigan food and farm entrepreneurs “whose success will promote economic development, expand local sourcing practices, provide healthy food access, and strengthen racial equity.”
Since 2015, MGFF has provided more than $22.4 million in loans and grants and thousands of hours of business assistance to Michigan farmers and food businesses. As part of its ongoing efforts to invest in community-based food business, Michigan Good Food Fund first offered the Seed Awards program as a pilot project in late 2023. The objective of the project is to support Michigan food businesses that have demonstrated potential to impact the communities they serve but are too small or not yet established enough to qualify for a Michigan Good Food Fund grant or loan. Seed grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 are awarded by a committee of Michigan Good Food Fund’s Stakeholder Board, a group of food entrepreneurs, lenders, and practitioners with deep connections to local food systems who actively engage their communities and offer unique insights into the diverse needs of local food and farm businesses.
Fair Food Network and its Michigan Good Food Fund partners expected to receive a few dozen applications during the initial pilot round of Seed Awards, but hundreds of applications — mostly from Michigan’s urban and densely populated areas — flooded in. To further a shared interest in building resilient food systems in under-resourced northern and rural geographies, The Americana Foundation provided $25,000 in additional funding targeted specifically to food and farm businesses in rural parts of the state. In total, eleven businesses collectively received $150,000 to grow and sustain their businesses in the initial round. The Americana Foundation’s funding supported two rural businesses in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: Peace Pie Company in Marquette and Dynamite Hill Farms in L’Anse. As noted by Jerry Jondreau, co-owner of Dynamite Hill Farms:
“Awards such as this help small businesses like ours take incremental steps on our way to building a sustainable business.... We believe fully that the revitalization of our food systems is key to healthy and sustainable systems…. By maintaining our business, we are able to serve our family, our communities, and the region with food that sustains our health and the health of the surrounding ecosystem.”
The Americana Foundation is proud to work with Michigan Good Food Fund and Fair Food Network to strengthen food systems in Michigan by focusing on the growers, processors, and distributors that provide healthy food for Michigan communities. In fall 2024, more than 250 Michigan-based farmers and food businesses applied for the second round of Michigan Good Food Fund Seed Awards, and Fair Food Network anticipates a new round will open in early 2025.