Success Stories

A mother and three daughters pose around a dining room table. There are lace curtains and blue wall in the background and some dishes on the table in the foreground.

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in their Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…

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Search Results: 16 Stories

Staff from Back Yard Farms hold packages of apple chips that were just produced and ready for sale using the freeze-drying method

What a great idea, how come nobody thought of this before?

The workers at Backyard Farms in Vado, New Mexico have barely begun another day of freeze-drying produce when another truck carrying hundreds of pounds of apples arrives to deliver its load. Since Backyard Farms began freeze drying food it’s become a beehive of activity. All… [Read More]

01.24.2023

Food Supply Grants Local Produce

Members of the Real Pickle Co-op stand on the roof of the building next to the new solar panels on a sunny day. Many are wearing coats and it looks chilly outside.

Solar: It’s a “Big Dill” for Real Pickles Cooperative

As USDA Rural Development (RD) highlights National Cooperative Month, one worker owned co-op in Massachusetts stands out as a model for sustainability, collaboration, and local food system resiliency. The saying goes “it’s not easy being green.” But for Real Pickles in… [Read More]

10.20.2022

Cooperatives Energy Local Foods Local Produce REAP Renewable Energy Rural Development Sustainable/Organic Foods

York Glover, secretary of the Gullah Farmers’ Cooperative board of directors

Gullah Co-op: Growing Food, Preserving Culture

St. Helena Island, South Carolina, is home to the Black-owned Gullah Farmers’ Cooperative. The co-op is named after the Gullah Geechee, an African American community known for its careful preservation of African cultural heritage in South Carolina and Georgia. “This… [Read More]

09.27.2022

African American Cooperatives Local Produce Sustainable/Organic Foods Underserved

New Facility Will Help Small Provide a Means for Small Farmers to Package, Store and Distribute their Produce

Larry Harris and his son, Julian Harris of Harris Farms, LLC often struggled to find a way to package and distribute their fresh produce and increase their sales. Fortunately for them and many other farmers, USDA Rural Development (RD) assisted in finding a solution to this… [Read More]

01.11.2022

Business Local Foods Local Produce

Claybrook Farms Providing Beef and Jobs

Even though Claybrook Farms had a long standing reputation for its excellent Black Angus cattle breeding operation, the new owner wanted to broaden the farm’s horizon. The Turner family purchased the 700 acre Claybrook Farms in 1975 growing it to over 1,000 acres and adding the… [Read More]

08.06.2019

Know Your Farmer Local Foods Local Produce Sustainable/Organic Foods Value Added

Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market. Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]

08.06.2019

Know Your Farmer Local Foods Local Produce Sustainable/Organic Foods