Republic Food Enterprise Center welcomes Agriculture secretary, small meat processor grant funding
Mike Tony | 缅北禁地
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding (right) touts the importance of supporting local agriculture as state Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, and Department of Agriculture Director of Communications Emily Demsey look on during Redding鈥檚 visit to Republic Food Enterprise Center Tuesday. The Republic Food Enterprise Center was announced as a recipient of a small meat processor grant.
Mike Tony | 缅北禁地
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, praises the Pennsylvania Farm Bill package, of which she was a prime sponsor, that was signed into law in July and created a grant program for 鈥渧ery small鈥� meat processors. Grant funding for 15 recipients was announced Tuesday at Republic Food Enterprise Center, one of the recipients.
Mike Tony | 缅北禁地
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding (right) lauded the sustainable food product development at Republic Food Enterprise Center during his visit there Tuesday to announce Pennsylvania Farm Bill grant funding to increase the supply of locally produced meat. The center was a recipient, and its general manager Joe Ambrose (left) and Darrell Becker (second from left), Fayette County Farm Bureau president and Fayette County Agricultural Land Preservation Board chairman, touted the importance of the center鈥檚 mobile poultry processing trailer. Also pictured are state Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, and Department of Agriculture Director of Communications Emily Demsey.
REPUBLIC 鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 an all-around win.鈥�
Darrell Becker, president of the Fayette County Farm Bureau and chairman of the Fayette County Agricultural Land Preservation Board, lauded the Republic Food Enterprise Center鈥檚 mobile poultry processing trailer.
The trailer has proven to be a boon for local farmers, meeting them where they are and keeping them from having to haul their birds to a stockyard.
鈥淵ou go to the stockyard, if nobody shows up to buy animals that day, you might get half price for what it鈥檚 worth,鈥� Becker said. 鈥淭his is a big thing.鈥�
The trailer is proof of the agricultural and economic impact the Republic Food Enterprise Center makes, and that impact was rewarded Tuesday as Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding toured the center and announced that the center, a subsidiary of Fayette County Community Action Agency, was one of 15 recipients of Pennsylvania Farm Bill funding totaling $500,000 in small meat processor grants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to make a connection between production and consumption,鈥� Redding said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something in the center.鈥�
Republic Food Enterprise Center will receive $25,000 and aims to focus on U.S. Department of Agriculture compliance for local meat production and sales.
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, and Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, were on-hand to applaud Republic Food Enterprise Center and praise the Farm Bill, a $23.1 million package signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in July designed to invest in new resources for agriculture business development and succession planning, market opportunities and expanding processing capacity, among other agricultural initiatives.
The bill, which passed the Senate and House without opposition, created a reimbursement grant program for 鈥渧ery small鈥� meat processors, meaning recipients with fewer than 10 employees or annual sales less than $2.5 million.
Snyder, a prime sponsor of the farm bill package, said she was even more elated to see the Farm Bill implemented than she was to see it become law.
鈥淲ithout our farmers, it鈥檚 scary to me to think what we would do,鈥� Snyder said.
Jim Stark, executive director of FCCAA, noted that a $1.75 million Appalachian Regional Commission grant to FCCAA in 2017 for local food shed development had allowed the agency to expand its work in the area.
Joseph M. Ambrose, Jr., general manager of Republic Food Enterprise Center and one of several third-generation farmers there, pointed out that the center provides food products for the William S. Moorhead Federal Building in Pittsburgh and is building a growing list of partnerships geared toward the center鈥檚 goal of bridging the gap between farm and table by developing sustainable food products throughout the region.
鈥淭his is a hard business,鈥� Ambrose said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough. We鈥檙e battling through it.鈥�