Clay Bottom Farm has obtained funding to make local foods more accessible

Goshen – Goshen’s Clay Bottom Farm is one of the 17 farms that obtained a subsidy as part of the infrastructure program for resilient food systems.

Clay Bottom Farm will receive funding that will expand its capacities to deliver and provide fresh and organic products to local establishments, and provides that the farm will make efforts to remain affordable and more accessible than ever.

The Department of Agriculture of the State of Indiana, in partnership with the agricultural marketing service of the US Department of Agriculture, issued a total of $ 6,174,042 in grants to 17 projects.

Clay Bottom Farm served the County of Elkhart for 19 years, when they built their farm in 2006. Ben Hartman, one of the founders of the farm, said that the subsidy will go to better service with the nine establishments with which they are already working, but hoping now to occupy up to 15 places, and provide more products granted by the additional vehicle, which also led them to employment positions.

“Delivery is a key element of our business,” he said. “We also make a certain aggregation of food, which means that we distribute food to these restaurants other farms.

“Thus, having an auxiliary vehicle for this purpose will help us to better serve our customers and strengthen the local food hangar by making food from our farm and in other more easily available farms.”

The general objective of the grant is to strengthen resilience in the supply chain, as well as to strengthen local and regional food systems.

Hartman explained that the process had taken time and that the request had been sent months ago, but then recently received a new one that they had received the subsidy.

In the future and when funding is made available, they can start their work with new hires, continue to associate with other local farmers and achieve their objectives, which they hope to start this summer.

“The idea here is to strengthen local food hangars and we are proud to keep our food near us,” he said.

“Lots of food is developing in the County of Elkhart and our vision is that more it should remain inside the county. It is excellent food, of better quality, cooler and often less costs. ”

An example that Hartman gave to explain why the delivery vehicle will improve their services is the partnership they already have with establishments, such as Goshen Brewing Company.

“We deliver food twice a week to Goshen Brewing Company,” he said. “We send what we call a new list to their leader. We list all the articles we have on our farm.

“We send him this list twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. He can choose what he wants from the list as ordering a menu, then we start harvest at 8 am and we usually have food for him at noon.”

Hartman joked saying that their four -hour reversal the same day is faster than an Amazon truck. As they already have such a quick capacity to harvest, prepare and deliver, it can only imagine how faster the process will become with the new delivery vehicle.

Jokes aside, Hartman is certain that it will be advantageous not only to the establishments with which they work, but also to the community which consume local products.

“There is an advantage for health insofar as Elkhart county eaters are improving and cooler foods,” said Hartman. “There is an environmental advantage insofar as our food moves a few kilometers from the plate when most foods in the United States move hundreds to thousands of kilometers.

“Well, there are social benefits when people know where their food is developing. It has a better taste and it strengthens the community. ”

Among all the reasons taken at the source locally in terms of products, Hartman devotes himself to working with the community to provide fresh products to those who are unable to afford fresh food or food.

“My wife Rachel actually works as a chef at the three morning window a week and it is important for us to put our food in the hands of those who could not normally afford it,” said Hartman. “The use of organic quality methods in our food can be more expensive than other sources and therefore this delivery vehicle will help us put food in the hands of those who need it.”

Will the question of the million dollars, as Hartman said, that many ask … Will they remain affordable as the economy changes?

Hartman said that during their 19 years of growing seasons, prices still fluctuate because they consider both the prices of products while offering workers a decent salary. Hartman said price changes, even locally, can increase, but the product will remain the same.