Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) announced that San Miguel Produce, based in Oxnard, will receive $250,000 in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help create jobs in Ventura County and support California’s leafy green growers.
“Agriculture is an essential part of Ventura County’s heritage and plays a critical role in our vibrant and diverse economy,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “I am so happy to see San Miguel Produce receive this grant, which will help create jobs and increase returns for leafy green growers in our community.”
This grant is part of USDA Rural Development’s Value-Added Producer Grant program. These funds will be used for marketing and processing costs to support the launch of San Miguel Produce’s juicing kit product across the West Coast and Midwest. This will help create more than two dozen jobs in the area according to the grant announcement.
Congresswoman Brownley wrote a letter of support for the grant to USDA. Brownley wrote, “I am pleased to support this application as San Miguel Produce is an important leader in the leafy green industry and new market opportunities developed on its behalf would benefit the entire industry.”
“San Miguel Produce is very excited to have been awarded a USDA, Value-Added Producer Grant for its new line of fresh-cut juicing greens,” said Jan Berk, COO of San Miguel Produce, Inc. “The Juicing NuGreens line are blended with specific varieties of dark greens to promote unique nutrient values for healthy lifestyles. More and more people are trying to add more dark greens to meet their healthy lifestyle and our new Juicing line is designed to help consumers make it easier to do so. We want to thank Congresswoman Brownley for her support of our grant application.”
Learn more about the grant here.
Issues: 115th Congress, Agriculture