Do you have a good gardening or livestock idea that you really want to try out, but don’t have the money to make it happen? If you’re an Alaskan, you may be in luck.
Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources recently opened up the 2024 grant proposal process for the food security program. Micro grants up to $5,000 are awarded to selected applicants, which might be able to help you achieve that dream!
You don’t have to be a “professional grower,” an “expert herder” or have an extensive background in academia or grant applications to apply. The goal of these micro-grants is to fuel subarctic growing and livestock research and to have a lot of different people (with different ideas) contributing to subarctic food security. They are designed to specifically disconnect that effort from so-called ivory towers.
We’ve been thinking about throwing our hat in the ring for these for quite some time. We have a lot of ideas that are more difficult for us to self-finance and thus we haven’t been able to bring them to fruition. They are good ideas, but benefit no one if they are just bouncing around our head.
We’d encourage you to think about it and if you’ve got a good idea, apply! If you’re approved, we’d love to hear about your project and might even be willing to give you a showcase here on Frosty Garden!
https://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ag_grants/microgrants_for_food_security.htm
