The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is investing more than $5.2 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grant program. According to a news release, the intent of RFSI is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain by developing and expanding markets for Iowa’s small farms and food businesses. Many of the selected projects will expand wholesale markets that serve schools and early care facilities as well as other institutional buyers like hospitals and colleges, the release said. The projects will also help farms and small businesses gain access to grocers and support other intermediary markets such as food hubs, post-harvest processing facilities or other distribution networks. A portion of the overall investment, $997,040, will be invested into strengthening logistical connections between Iowa’s wholesale food hubs, with the goal of increasing capacity, aggregation and distribution. In coordination with the Iowa Food Hub Managers Working Group, which was organized in 2015 by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa will invest in new software and create standard operating procedures for the Iowa Hub-to-Hub Network. The plan also includes a Middle of the Supply Chain Buyer and Supplier Summit to build relationships between local food buyers and producers, and a supply chain coordinator to help build new markets and sales for Iowa’s food hub network and producers. To learn more about the RFSI grants and view a list of the grant recipients, click here.