TOLEDO – In the midst of record setting food pantry usage throughout the state of Iowa, Growing Together Mini-Grants will provide fresh produce and nutrition education to pantries in 2025 through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s SNAP-Education program. Tama county is among those to receive a grant, and the funds will go toward supporting the donation garden and tomato plant distributions.

“These funds make it possible to provide tomato plants for food pantry clients in our county. This makes fresh food more available to those in communities where local food pantries don’t have the ability to store and offer fresh produce on sight to clients,” local Master Gardener coordinator Cheryl Bruene said.

A total of 27 projects are being funded statewide, with the goal of increasing food security and promoting healthy food access. Other counties receiving grants include Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer & Floyd (joint project), Clinton, Dallas, Dickinson, Dubuque, Fayette, Franklin, Iowa, Jasper, Linn, Lyon, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, O’Brien, Page, Polk, Scott, Story, Reiman Gardens (Story), Wapello, Washington, and Webster.

Growing Together Mini-Grants have been funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s SNAP-Education since 2016. This year, additional funding for Growing Together Iowa was provided by Iowa Total Care. Iowa was the first state to create the Growing Together model, which has been replicated in Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana. Over the past nine years, the mini-grants have resulted in fruit and vegetable donations of over 850,000 pounds in Iowa.

Master Gardener volunteers plant donation gardens with partners, support their community with plant-a-row programs to get more produce into food pantries, and glean fresh produce from farmers markets.

“This project mobilizes communities to help people experiencing food insecurity in a very tangible way,” Katie Sorrell, project coordinator for Growing Together, said. “Growing Together helps food pantries expand their offerings to include garden fresh fruits and vegetables.”

For more information, contact Cheryl Bruene, Tama County Master Gardener coordinator at 641-484-2703 or cbruene@iastate.edu.