Grace Jacobson / News Director

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture received massive funding to help strengthen the food supply chain between farmer and consumer.

The USDA’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program gave the MDA $12.25 million to invest in food systems infrastructure.

The MDA says they will work in partnership with the USDA to distribute these funds as competitive grants.

They say the result of these investments will be more and stronger markets for small farms and food businesses to access, as well as an increase in locally made value-added products for consumers throughout the state.

The Minnesota RFSI Initiative will begin distributing the funds in 2024.