The Food Hub of Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) is
looking to purchase locally grown products from farmers who grow fresh fruits and vegetables. The purpose of the Food Hub is to provide marketing and distribution support for local farmers by using RUSD’s existing infrastructure, coolers, warehouse, and delivery trucks.
The Food Hub was launched as a pilot with a CA Department of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant in 2017.
The Food Hub is highly innovative. It was showcased and shared with 50 other, mid-sized, “Invest Health” cities, non-profits, the Federal Reserve Bank, Kaiser Permanent, and the Reinvestment Fund.
The Food Hub provided 98,000 Farmers to Families food boxes to needy seniors and families during 2020. Those boxes included $600,000 of produce that was purchased from local growers. Grants from USDA and the City of Riverside (CARES funds) provided nearly $4M for the hunger program.
Our food rescue programs saved 450,000 pounds of food from going to waste, helping to feed those in need! Much of this was thanks to volunteers and funding from CalRecycle.
As of December 2020, the Food Hub has
delivered
food boxes to needy seniors and families
purchased
of locally grown produce
secured over
in grant funding
RFSA provides FREE Food Safety and Good Agricultural Practices training, thanks to a grant from USDA. Why is being GAP Certified important? It allows growers to sell to institutions like the RUSD Food Hub.
For more information about upcoming trainings:
The Healthy Soils Incentives Program provides financial assistance to farmers for conservation management that improves soil health, sequesters carbon, and reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The HSP Demonstration Projects program showcases California farmers and ranchers that use healthy soil practices. On farm management practices may include: applying compost and mulch, planting cover crops and hedgerows, no-till, reduced-tillage, and more.
Funding is provided through the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
NRCS also provides some financial assistance through the Farm Bill EQIP program. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, and improved or created wildlife habitat. This program helps pay for a portion of the cost of materials and installation for improvements such as the irrigation system retrofits. It is available to all farmers regardless of acres owned or ag income. Contracts are developed between the farmer and NRCS. Payments are made to participants after practices and activities identified in an EQIP conservation plan are completed. Contracts may last up to ten years. Agricultural producers, owners of non-industrial private forestland, and Tribes are eligible to apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture-land, non-industrial private forestland, and other farm or ranch lands. NRCS will help eligible producers develop an EQIP plan of operations, which will become the basis of the EQIP contract.
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