PIERRE — The South Dakota Community Foundation  recently awarded a $48,940 Beyond Idea Grant  to South Dakota State University Extension.

Funding will support access to locally grown, organic produce for South Dakotans who struggle to make ends meet and face food insecurity. This will provide added measures to prevent, manage, and treat diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers.

This grant will assist two small-scale produce farms in Spearfish (Budding Moon Farm and Cycle Farm) in implementing and expanding a produce prescription program that will provide subsidized community-supported agriculture share to community members facing food insecurity and diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

"This program will simultaneously increase community members’ access to nutritious, organic fruits and vegetables and support local farmers in the northern Black Hills,” says Geb Bastian, assistant professor and SDSU Extension nutrition and health state specialist.

This program will be achieved through a program called “produce prescription” (PRx), a collaboration between healthcare and food systems. Patients will be screened by a participating healthcare provider for program eligibility. Eligible patients then receive a “produce voucher” that they can use to enroll in a subsidized community-supported agriculture share at a participating farm. This will allow the patient to receive weekly boxes of fresh, organic, local produce at no cost.

To learn more about funding opportunities offered by the SDCF, please visit our website at https://www.sdcommunityfoundation.org/grants.