ELIZABETHTOWN, PA. — In a recent update, the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) reminded its members of the SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) Meat and Poultry Processing program, which offers up to $10,000 in grants from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the US Department of Agriculture.

The grants can be used for networking projects for people and businesses at local/regional meat systems along with multi-faceted training, according to the information on the Montana State University website.

Some of the grants can help with skilled workforce development, continuing education, and the health and safety of workers in meat supply chain businesses.

Other topics to consider include safe handling, animal welfare, food safety, HACCP and other needs that stakeholders can identify.

Some possible applicants for the projects include secondary, postsecondary and outreach institutions, trade associations and partnered non-governmental organizations and consultancies. 

Although the grants for SARE are broken up into four different regions of the United States, NIFA is specifically looking at the Western region, which represents Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Federated States of Micronesia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Marianas Islands, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

More information about the program can be found here.