Grow Montana is a broad-based food policy coalition whose common purpose is to promote community economic development and education policies that support sustainable Montana-owned food production, processing, and distribution, and that improve all of our citizens’ access to healthy Montana foods.
Grow Montana has the following goals:
- Improve all Montana residents’ access to safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods.
- Improve fair labor practices throughout the food and agriculture economy
- Strengthen Montana’s interconnected regional and agriculture economies
- Enhance stewardship and protection of Montana’s water, soil, and agricultural lands
- Promote regenerative, sustainable agriculture as a means of resiliency by mitigating and adapting to changing climate and weather variabilities
- Support family farms, both small and midscale, as a means of strengthening local food systems
The coalition is led by a steering committee made up of nine local, state, and national organizations. Grow Montana is coordinated by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, based in Butte, on behalf of the steering committee.
Achievements
Grow Montana Food Policy Coalition formed in 2005 to advocate for changes in state policies that would strengthen Montana’s food and agriculture economies. The coalition has since led foods systems research, produced educational materials, and stewarded significant policy changes to support Montana’s food producers.
Our past successes include leading legislative wins that:
- Authorized the Montana Department of Livestock to inspect mobile meat slaughter units;
- Created Montana’s Food and Agricultural Development Centers;
- Created more flexibility for public institutions to buy Montana-grown or processed food, and;
- Established cottage food in Montana and streamlining regulations related to mobile and temporary food vendors.
