NDA seeking Farm2Food Accelerator participants

The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA), alongside the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation, is seeking participants for the Women’s Farm2Food Accelerator program, starting in November of this year. This is the second year this workforce development program is being offered to Nevadans, following the successful completion of the pilot program earlier this year and positive feedback from the nine initial participants. The program is designed to help Nevada women farmers and entrepreneurs with value-added food or beverage products, or product ideas, grow their business and expand into new markets. A value-added product is a product that has changed in its physical state or form, such as milling wheat for flour or making strawberries into jam. Women who grow specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, honey, tree nuts, dried fruits, culinary herbs and spices, or source specialty crop ingredients in the products they make are encouraged to apply.
“This is a great opportunity for Nevada's women farmers to receive entrepreneurship training and tools,” said NDA Director Jennifer Ott. “This program supports women owned, small-scale businesses in growing their operations and increasing their marketplace success.”
Selected participants will participate in a 15-week online program and two in-person events at no cost thanks to funds made available through the Nevada Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The program will provide women with the opportunity to:

• Gain knowledge and tools related to food safety, product development, marketing and other industry resources
• Connect with a community of women farmers, food entrepreneurs and food experts
• Launch a new food or beverage product or enhance an existing product for market

An information session will be held virtually in advance of the program on Sept. 20, 2022, from noon –1 p.m.
Interested individuals can register for the information session and apply for the program at f2faccelerator.org/nv-program. The deadline to apply for the program is Oct. 7, 2022.

About the Nevada Department of Agriculture

The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) mission is to preserve, protect and promote Nevada’s agriculture. The department has 225 dedicated employees providing services in its five divisions, Administrative Services, Animal Industry, Measurement Standards, Food and Nutrition, and Plant Health and Compliance. The department’s $288 million budget facilitates regulatory and administrative work in agriculture and food manufacturing industries, protecting public and environmental health and worker safety, and providing food distribution and oversight for the United States Department of Agriculture’s school and community nutrition programs.