Hoophouses for Health: Building the Good Food Infrastructure
Hoophouses for Health is a unique program that provides farmers with access to capital, at 0% interest for five years, to build hoophouses and provides ongoing technical assistance (TA) to increase production and business success. This TA includes construction assistance, crop selection, spacing and fertility recommendations, projected target yields, and crop enterprise budgeting assistance. Simultaneously the program works with community partners to introduce vulnerable youth and their families to Michigan farmers markets by providing monetary incentives in the form of vouchers that encourage these consumers to become loyal, repeat customers. As the vouchers are redeemed by participating farmers, an amount equal to the vouchers is deducted from the amount borrowed by farmers.
At the close of 2013, there were 24 farms with 28 hoophouses funded by the program and 13 farmers markets from across the state of Michigan participating in the program. The program has partnered with local Head Start agencies and community organizations to facilitate distributing vouchers to families. Evaluations of the program have concluded that at least 2,740 individuals representing 752 families were served during the 2013 market season (Lelle, 2014).