Jordan’s Farm co-owner Penny Jordan, right, and farmhand and project manager Liz Bullis plan to use a $250,000 federal grant to help grow the Cape Elizabeth farm’s presence in retail stores with additional products. Drew Johnson / The Forecaster
Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth got a big boost last week to help it grow the retail and wholesale side of the family business.
The mixed-vegetable farm at 21 Wells Road received a $250,000 Value-Added Producer Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will use it to launch new products in local stores.
“I was blown away,” co-owner Penny Jordan said Monday at the farm store on Wells Road.
The application process was “daunting” and took over four months to complete, she said. “Putting in that much work and getting it, it was worth every second.”
Customers could soon see more shelf-stable and frozen products out of Jordan’s business, from pickled gold beets to popcorn to frozen carrots. She specifically intends to expand their retail products deeper into Scarborough and South Portland. They also plan to expand in Rosemont Market and the Portland Food Co-Op.
“We already do salad dressings and jams, so this will be adding an additional line of products,” she said. “This grant was a huge opportunity for Jordan’s Farm to take the next step in evolving its business.”
Farmhand Liz Bullis is overseeing the business’s plans to use the funding.
“It’s not just about the continued success of Jordan’s,” she said. The money also allows the farm to work more closely with its agricultural partners in the region, so it props up other local food sources.
“It gives people the option to shop some items locally that maybe they would normally have to buy from someone else. It’s big for Jordan’s individually, but also big for the local food community in general,” Bullis said.
Four other farms in Maine received federal funding last week, including Balfour Farm in Pittsfield, Herbal Revolution Farm & Apothecary in Union, Ledgeway Farm in Pittston and Fields Fields Blueberries in Dresden.
“USDA Value-Added Producer Grants, along with important investment tools, are vital to helping strengthen farm businesses, expand and diversify their market opportunities, and support the resilience of our overall food system and agricultural sector,” Amanda Beal, commissioner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, wrote in an email to The Forecaster. “We are excited for these Maine recipients and the opportunities this grant represents for them and their broader communities.”
Roughly 7,600 farms in Maine cover 1.3 million acres, which is about 5% of the state’s total area, according to the department. According to its 2017 census, 61% of farms in Maine grow crops while livestock, poultry and other products make up the other 39%.
The grant Jordan’s Farm received will do more than help the business remain “viable” and “sustainable,” Jordan said. It will help her family business, five generations deep, “endure the next generation.”
“This is to be a farm of perpetuity,” she said. “So, as we think about our business, we think about how we make sure that happens.”
At Jordan’s Farm, from left, Phil Jordan with his children Nora and Henry, Penny Jordan and staff members Jess Newton, Liz Bullis, Meagan Winker and Tim Brubaker. Contributed / Liz Bullis
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