Shapiro-Davis Administration Invests $500,000 to Support Urban Farmers and Break Down Barriers to Accessing Fresh Food in Cities Across Pennsylvania

Twenty-one Urban Ag Grants will invest in solutions to long-standing challenges in city neighborhoods, from soil quality to storage and land availability.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
April 15, 2026

Excerpt:

Willkinsburg, PA – Today, Lt. Governor Austin Davis and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced 21 Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grants totaling $499,480 for projects addressing long-standing challenges urban farmers face in growing local, farm-fresh produce in cities across Pennsylvania. Lt. Governor Davis and Secretary Redding made the announcement at The Mill in Wilkinsburg, where Landforce, Pittsburgh’s Conservation Corps, will put a $40,500 grant toward equipment to increase efficiency in production of biochar – a soil enhancer made of wood waste from urban tree removal.

“Landforce is helping to create ladders of opportunity for people who desperately need them,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. “They’re giving people skills and training, to set them up for success. The Shapiro-Davis Administration is proud to invest in organizations like Landforce through our Urban Agriculture grant program. As a former state representative, I made it a priority to stand up for Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry, and with Governor Shapiro, we’re making agriculture a priority for our administration. That’s because we’re all connected in this Commonwealth – success for a farmer in Lancaster County is connected to the success of a union worker in Allegheny County.”

“Urban Ag grants are providing tools that help Pennsylvanians change Pennsylvania cities for the better,” Secretary Redding said. “The Shapiro-Davis Administration is committed to creating and supporting lasting solutions to challenging problems. Getting fresh, healthy food into neighborhoods where it is scarce, regenerating contaminated or depleted urban soil, and finding and affording land that won’t be sold after hard work and investments to improve it are just a few of the challenges with solutions funded by these grants.”

With funding from prior grants through the program, Pennsylvanians are working to increase fresh food access in areas where it is scarce; break down racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic barriers; and overcome historical inequities to grow not just food, but opportunities for their communities to thrive.

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