By Blake Jackson
Communities across Missouri now have the opportunity to apply for the next round of Missouri EATs, a grant-supported initiative from the University of Missouri Extension designed to strengthen local food systems. One community will be chosen to collaborate with MU Extension and the Missouri Rural Food Access Partnership on a comprehensive planning process.
Part of MU Extension’s Community Development program, Missouri EATs-short for Engage, Act, Transform-guides communities in assessing their food system strengths and challenges, developing practical action plans, and making lasting improvements, said Bill McKelvey, senior project coordinator for MU’s Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security.
The program encourages communities addressing issues such as food access, hunger, health, food and farm business development, or other local food system opportunities to participate.
Benefits of Missouri EATs include:
- Community action plans: The selected community will receive guidance in creating a tailored plan to address its unique food system challenges.
- Partnership development: Communities will connect with technical assistance providers to support local initiatives.
- Funding readiness: Participants will gain preparation for future food infrastructure funding, helping create a pipeline of fundable food retail and enterprise projects in rural areas with limited food access.
While priority is given to rural communities, rural-urban collaborations or multicounty proposals are also eligible. The program fee will be waived for the chosen community through this grant.
Interested communities must submit an online letter of interest by March 20, which takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Selected applicants will then be invited for in-depth interviews, with email notifications sent by April 20. A PDF version of the form is available upon request.
“Whether a community is looking for ways to make sure people have the resources they need to access healthy food, such as a grocery store or community garden, or they are thinking more broadly about developing their local food system, our hope is that some really successful projects come out of this Missouri EATs process,” McKelvey said. “These activities can help address long-standing issues of community health and resilience.”
For more information, communities can access the Missouri EATs interest form or contact Bill McKelvey at billmckelveyjr@missouri.edu.
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Categories: Missouri, Business, Government & Policy