Michigan Hoop House Loan Program

Get a zero-interest loan to build a hoop house, pay back through farmers’ market sales.

By GRIT staff
March/April 2013
inside view of a hoophouse
Image Gallery
Hoop house loan program lets farmers repay the zero-interest loan with farmers' market sales.
Photo By Fotolia/Paul Prescott
Article Tools
Print
Comments
RSS

With an increased number of farmers’ markets accepting food assistance benefits, the Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA), the Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Regional Food Systems, and the MSU Student Organic Farm are facilitating a program designed to introduce vulnerable families to local farmers’ markets and to provide the families with the resources they need to become loyal repeat customers.

RELATED CONTENT

The loan program, “Hoophouses for Health,” is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and allows food-insecure families to assist farmers in paying back loans they have secured to build hoop houses on their farms.

Farmers pay off their hoop house loans by accepting vouchers as payment for the food they sell at the farmers’ market. The dollar amount of the food distributed is then taken off the loan amount that the farmer owes. Farmers have five years to pay back the zero-interest loan. The program plans to distribute $500,000 over a three-year period to farmers seeking to install hoop houses, which will in turn disburse food of an equal value to Head Start families over a five-year repayment schedule. Applications for the loan will be available shortly. Visit Michigan State University Hoophouse for more information.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print


Archived Comments

4294980912
MY COMMUNITY

MOST POPULAR


Pay Now & Save 50% Off the Cover Price

First Name: *
 Last Name: *
Address: *
 City: *
State/Province: *
 Zip/Postal Code:*
Country:
 Email:*


(* indicates a required item)
Canadian subs: 1 year, (includes postage & GST). Foreign subs: 1 year, . U.S. funds.
Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Non US and Canadian Subscribers - Click Here

Live The Good Life with Grit!

For more than 125 years, Grit has helped its readers live more prosperously and happily while emphasizing the importance of community and a rural lifestyle tradition. In each bimonthly issue, Grit includes helpful articles, humorous and inspiring articles, captivating photos, gardening and cooking advice, do-it-yourself projects and the practical reader advice you would expect to find in America’s premier rural lifestyle magazine.

Get your guide to living outside the city limits delivered straight to your mailbox. Subscribe to Grit today!  Simply fill in your information below to receive 1 year (6 issues) of Grit for only $19.95!

SPECIAL BONUS OFFER!

At Grit, we have a tradition of respecting the land that sustains rural America. That’s why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing to Grit through our automatic renewal savings plan. By paying now with a credit card, you save an additional $5 and get 6 issues of Grit for only $14.95 (USA only).

Or, Bill Me Later and send me one year of Grit for just $19.95!