The USDA cut grant money that paid local farmers to send fresh food to community food banks, saying the program “no longer ...

Ben Stumpf, owner of Rumblin’ Ernie Farm in Columbia, hand-plows a field during the phase of spring sewing. Most of Stumpf’s tools are hand-operated. But a federal Local Food Purchase ...

He has been growing and selling produce from Rumblin’ Ernie Farm for five years, mainly at the Land of Goshen Community Market, Edwardsville’s farmers market. In its first year, the grant paid ...

For local farmer Ben Stumpf, the steady stream of income from a new federal grant allowed him to quit his second job working nights for UPS in Belleville and focus full-time on his small Monroe ...