Program areas at Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture
Cisa's local hero program educates the Community about the many benefits of local Agriculture. The local hero program markets local farm products through social media, cisa's website, and press outlets. in 2022, members in cisa's local hero program included 274 farms and 126 retailers, restaurants, institutions, and specialty producers. in 2022, cisa's highlights of local farms were featured in articles, radio, and tv news stories; in over 400 radio, tv, and print ads and psa's; and over 1 million impressions via online advertising. Nearly 20,000 people receive their monthly email or social media updates. Cisa's website played a critical role in connecting people to local farms and had 70,362 users and 353,169 page views.
Through our local food for all program, cisa expands access to local food for low-income consumers. Cisa provided 500 low-income seniors with a summer farm share and educated them and service providers about the benefits of fresh, local food. We work with mobile markets to support them in accepting ebt/snap and hip (a state-run incentive program for local fruits and vegetables) and in outreach and communications to potential customers.
Cisa provides farmers with essential support and technical assistance on nearly all aspects of running their businesses. in 2022, cisa had specific funding to support beginning farmers, farmers who sell direct to consumers, and wholesale farmers. We continue to provide assistance climate change adaptation as well as business, financial, and market planning and decision making. A total of 242 farms, businesses, and service providers attended 410 workshops and technical assistance consultations.
Growing the local food system: cisa researches food system gaps and creates opportunities to build the local food economy. in 2022, we helped farms, restaurants, and retailers think through their public messaging related to prices, inflation, and generating ongoing support for local Agriculture.