Green Umbrella awarded $125,000 in grants to a variety of organizations. Those who will benefit include small farms, local food entrepreneurs and processors, a neighborhood grocery co-op, schools and regional food pantries.
Recipients are Incubator Kitchen Collective, Apple Street Market Cooperative, Gabriel’s Place, KHI Foods, Ohio Valley Food Connection, Our Harvest Cooperative, Soup Cycle Cincy, La Soupe, Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village, Lincoln Heights Outreach, Reach Out Lakota and Wyoming City Schools.
The funds are intended to advance environmental sustainability goals related to distribution of food, reduction of waste, and access to fresh food, as well as energy efficiency.
Green Umbrella received funding from Partners for Places (a project of the Funders Network for Smart and Livable Communities) and the Duke Class Benefit Fund. Local matching grants were provided by Interact for Health, the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
“Part of the funding will support innovative, scalable food recovery efforts that rescue good food and distribute it to hungry people, rather than sending it to landfills where it produces a harmful greenhouse gas,” said Kristin Weiss, executive director of Green Umbrella. “These projects are good for our community and our environment.”
Nationally, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture are seeking a 50 percent reduction in food waste by 2030.
How the money will be used
Recipients are:
Incubator Kitchen Collective – Its grant will fund an energy-efficient cooling system to benefit all tenants, their networks of growers/suppliers and buyers.
Apple Street Market Cooperative – The grant will fund energy-efficient refrigeration for the worker-owned co-op’s first grocery store, planned to open in 2019 in the Northside neighborhood.
Gabriel’s Place – The grant will help provide affordable access to the food system through an urban farm, produce marketplace, community meals and nutrition education in the Avondale neighborhood.
KHI Foods – This food processor turns “ugly” tomatoes or “wrong color” peppers into products for schools and retail grocers. The grant will help KHI expand its processing capacity.
Ohio Valley Food Connection – The grant will support development of a regional rescued-food “after-market.” The project will provide a revenue model to food hubs and local farmers; a simple ordering process for institutions; and redistribution of unsold but edible products to food pantries.
Our Harvest Cooperative – Through this grant, volunteer networks will deliver thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables from local farms to low-income residents in the Walnut Hills, South Cumminsville, Millvale and North Fairmont neighborhoods.
Soup Cycle Cincy – This grant will help the organization expand by hiring youth chefs to work with volunteer professional chefs and college mentors. Soup Cycle provides healthy soups and raw vegetables to recreation centers in Price Hill, Avondale, Evanston and Over-the-Rhine.
La Soupe – The grant will support the organization’s food-rescue efforts and help increase its impact through a new location.
Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village – The grant will fund energy-efficient refrigeration to help the organization expand programs in East Price Hill.
Lincoln Heights Outreach – The funding will help expand fresh-food access through a food pantry; snacks and meals for students and seniors; community meals; block parties; and holiday dinners.
Reach Out Lakota – The grant will help expand fresh-food access, including mobile outreach to those in need in West Chester, Liberty Township and the Lakota School District.
Wyoming City Schools – The grant will support parent and student efforts to reduce food waste.