The Farm Store in downtown Pottsville has been awarded a $250,000 state grant through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program to support the expansion of its local food offerings and retrofit a community kitchen.
The grant will fund the installation of new value-added equipment in the store’s kitchen, enabling the business to purchase more fresh produce from area farmers and convert it into shelf-stable products such as freeze-dried strawberries, canned peaches, and dehydrated apples.
“The RFSI Grant Program funding allows us to bring value-added equipment into the Farm Store kitchen that we would not have been able to otherwise purchase,” Angela Meck, co-owner of The Farm Store says. “With this equipment, we have created additional market opportunities to buy more products from our local farmers. With those products, we can now create new, shelf-stable items like freeze-dried local strawberries, canned peaches, and dehydrated apples. The equipment funded through this grant allows us to support more farmers through purchasing their fresh produce, and it gives us a much larger window to sell that product; providing an improved economic benefit for both farmers and consumers in our communities.”
The Farm Store, at 113 E. Norwegian St. in downtown Pottsville, is now open seven days a week and offers a variety of local, farm-fresh food. The business emerged following its success in the inaugural Ignite Schuylkill startup competition.
“Since winning the inaugural Ignite Schuylkill competition, The Farm Store has become the community asset we knew it would,” Savas Logothetides, executive director of the Pottsville Area Development Corporation, says. “Hard work, resilience, and execution are common themes throughout both the program and the entrepreneurs who represent it.”
The grant award is seen as part of a broader wave of revitalization in downtown Pottsville, according to State Sen. Dave Argall.
“For residents of Pottsville, this new access to fresh food in downtown is a big deal,” he said. “Congratulations to Angela and Josiah Meck on their work to bring this idea to life. Between this new award, the recent announcement of the Rosalia Hotel at the former Miners Bank building, Alvernia University’s new downtown campus, and the many other new employers who have opened their doors, it’s clear that Pottsville’s downtown revitalization has real momentum.”
State Rep. Tim Twardzik emphasizes the broader impact of the project on local agriculture and food production.
“This investment will breathe new life into a vacant building while creating opportunities for more than 30 local farmers and helping bring over 100 new food products to market,” he says. “The Farm Store’s project is a perfect example of how we can strengthen our food supply chain and support small farms and food businesses right here in our region.”
The RFSI program, a cooperative agreement between Pennsylvania and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides matching grants to support food processing, distribution, and aggregation from multiple farms to meet growing demand for local and seasonal products.
Photo: Coal Region Canary
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