Farm Credit East Contributes $100,000 to Northeast Food Security Initiatives

Farm Credit East recently announced it contributed $100,000 to Northeast food security initiatives as part of the Food Access Infrastructure Initiative. The Urban Agriculture Cooperative, based in Newark, New Jersey, and the Burlington Food Pantry, located in Burlington, Maine, each received $50,000 to improve infrastructure and help mitigate food insecurity. 

Urban Agriculture Cooperative is a food hub working to connect urban growers and underserved consumers by providing access to local, fresh produce. The funds will go toward improving Urban Agriculture Cooperative’s cold storage capacity.

Emilio Panasci, co-founder and director of Urban Agriculture Cooperative, said, “We are incredibly grateful to Farm Credit East for their contribution, benefiting both our central food hub and our community distribution partners. The funding will allow us to move and supply farm products from local urban farms to processing kitchens, schools and food pantries.”

The Burlington Food Pantry works to combat food insecurity in rural communities, many of which are considered food deserts with limited access to nutritious foods. The food pantry will use these funds to invest in a walk-in freezer.

Maureen Bean, director of the Burlington Food Pantry, said, “We thank Farm Credit East for this generous donation. The increased freezer capacity will allow us to store and supply more nutritious food to the hundreds of households that regularly depend on us.”

Mike Reynolds, CEO of Farm Credit East, said, “Organizations such as the Urban Agriculture Cooperative and the Burlington Food Pantry have a vital role in enhancing access to fresh, local food within underserved communities. The Food Access Infrastructure Initiative aims to offer financial support to such organizations as they strive to improve food security across the Northeast.”

The funds contributed to the Urban Agriculture Cooperative and Burlington Food Pantry are part of a total $200,000 contributed by Farm Credit East’s Food Access Infrastructure Initiative in 2024.

Farm Credit East is a member-owned cooperative serving businesses involved in agriculture, forest products and commercial fishing throughout its eight-state territory of New York, New Jersey and New England. In addition to loans and leases, the organization offers a full range of specialized financial services. Farm Credit East is governed by a 15-person board of directors, comprised of 13 customer-elected, one customer appointed and one outside appointed director. For more information, visit FarmCreditEast.com.