Press Coverage

A successful partnership between urban and rural growers, processors and distributors helped convince federal authorities that the Mahoning Valley is headed in the right direction in regards to revitalizing its economy through local food initiatives.

Youngstown is working hard to promote local food and a farm-to-table approach to healthy eating.

A proposal among various local organizations was selected by federal officials as one of 26 national winners of the “Local Foods, Local Places” competition.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., along with other local organizations, was named one of only 26 nationwide winners of a “Local Foods, Local Places” federal competition to help revitalize the city’s economy through local food-system development.

Officials from the federal Appalachian Regional Commission, the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency will be at the Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator, 907 Elm St., at 3:30 p.m. today to make the announcement about all of the winners. The 26 winners were chosen from 316 applicants.

During my two-year tenure as a Strong Cities, Strong Communities Fellow in Youngstown, Ohio I found myself asking “What is Youngstown’s future? Will it truly recover from Black Monday and the darkest days of deindustrialization, population loss and economic challenges?”