Easton Farm Operation Granted $14.5K From Patrick Administration

An Easton farm operation and 29 other produce and aquaculture sites in Massachusetts were awarded $200,000 in grants, the Patrick Administration announced Monday.

Stone Soup, LLC, a family-run farm operation, was the recipient of a $14,500 grant from the Patrick Administration.

Stone Soup, LLC received the grant through the second round of the state-funded Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program (AFSIP).

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The 29 other operations received grants ranging from $15,810 to $800.

The grants will allow these agriculture operations to address food safety upgrades on their farms, to meet buyer demands, to increase consumption of local food and protest public health by reducing food safety risks.

The second round of funding awarded produce farms with food safety upgrades. Stone Soup, LLC received the $14,500 grant to help replace food safe sinks and tables and food safe bins.

These upgrades will allow farms to ensure public health, meet buyer requirements and follow Federal Food Safety Modernization Act regulations.

Improving the infrastructure and food safety practices is vital to ensuring success of the agricultural business, said Maeve Vallely Bartlett, of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “Our local agriculture industry benefits from fresh, quality products grown, harvested and processed in a safe, sustainable way in communities across the Commonwealth,” he said in a statement.

“This assistance will strengthen our local food security, improve access to fresh local produce and help ensure that our agricultural operations are prepared to meet new market and regulatory challenges in the future,” said DAR Commissioner Greg Watson in a statement.