Senator Flynn Announces Over $1.2 Million to Strengthen Local Food Systems in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties
Scranton, PA − June 27, 2025 − Senator Marty Flynn today announced that more than $1.2 million in Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grants are coming to Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties to help local farms, nonprofits, and food producers expand capacity, modernize equipment, and strengthen the region’s food supply chain.
“This money will make a real impact on our communities. We’re talking about new cold storage in Lackawanna County and better processing and delivery in Luzerne County.” Senator Flynn said. “That means our farmers’ hard work ends up on local tables, more families get fresh meals, and our farmers and nonprofits have what they need to keep growing. It’s smart, it’s practical, and it’s exactly the kind of investment our area deserves.”
The funding comes through Pennsylvania’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program — a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Governor Josh Shapiro announced at the 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show. The program offers matching grants for equipment, facility upgrades, and system-wide improvements to boost local food processing, distribution, and access.
Grant awardees in Senator Flynn’s district include:
Lackawanna County
- Friends of the Poor – $413,013 (Infrastructure Grant)
Establishing a centralized cold-storage food distribution hub to streamline nonprofit and farmer access to fresh food for thousands of residents in Lackawanna County.
Luzerne County
- The Food Dignity Project – $723,839 (Infrastructure Grant)
Building cold storage, processing, and delivery systems to support 29 farms and launch 15 new value-added products in Luzerne County.
- Michael Family Farm – $77,023 (Equipment-Only Grant)
Purchasing and installing on-farm dairy processing equipment to expand product offerings and markets for farms in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming Counties.